


Dark Fae

by AislingKaye



Series: Brand New Eyes [2]
Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Torchwood
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Immortality, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Sexual Content, Threesome - M/M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-09-29
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2017-11-15 06:11:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 65,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/524003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AislingKaye/pseuds/AislingKaye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ianto Jones is not and never has been human. He has lived through centuries, seen a lot of the best and worst of humanity and still tried his hardest to protect the innocent.<br/>Harry Potter is learning to deal with his immortality, and the reality of those he has long considered friends and family.<br/>Both of them find something unexpected but rather welcome at Torchwood.</p><p>(A re-telling of Torchwood in which Ianto Jones is something other than human, Harry Potter finds his niche, and there are happy endings of various kinds all around.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Encounters With A Wizard

Ianto Jones was used to strange things happening. He worked for Torchwood London, and if anything strange happened then that place was usually the centre of it or at least involved in some manner. However, the sight he had just come across while strolling through Surrey was both unusual and intriguing – and not something he was used to seeing.

A sharp crack had heralded the arrival of a pair of wizards, who had instantly shot a spell towards a child sitting on one of the swings. The youth’s mouth twitched into a cold smile, and he lifted a hand which was crackling with magic which had earlier been masked. This youth, whoever he was, was a powerful young wizard and most definitely not a child.

The spells shot back towards those who had cast them, sending both flying. The young wizard stood and walked over to one of his attackers, his gait smooth and almost feline as he nearly _prowled_ over. He hauled one of the attackers up off the ground and socked him in the jaw, sending him flailing before stepping in closer and giving a sharp uppercut to the stomach. The wizard collapsed and the youth stomped on his wrist hard enough to break it, causing the masked wizard to scream in pain.

Ianto watched, fascinated, as the five-foot-nothing youth completely battered the two adult wizards to attack him, and when he was gone stepped out of the shadows he had been hidden in and looked in the direction the black-haired green-eyed youth had gone. How interesting…

Ianto looked down at the whimpering, beaten wizards and a smirk curled his lips before he simply turned and walked away. They deserved their beating, and he wasn’t about to help them after they attacked a werewolf’s adopted cub. ‘Dark creatures’ had to stick together, after all.

 

Ianto hung around the same neighbourhood for an entire week following the incident with the powerful youth, curious about the undersized green-eyed wizard. It had been a very long time since he last encountered someone so magically powerful, and he wanted to know more about him. However, much to his annoyance, he had only managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of the youth changing forms from human to panther and then back again at the same park he had first seen him.

Unfortunately he had to go back to Torchwood London at the end of the week and did so rather reluctantly, his overwhelming curiosity peaked by the strange young wizard. Hopefully he'd get a chance to find out more about him at some point.

 *

Ianto Jones was not human. He was the oldest being on Earth at the current time, or at least the oldest he was aware of. He had lived through the rise and fall of several civilisations and governments, all the time managing to keep to the shadows and thrive through the strife of humankind. He had seen natural catastrophes wipe out settlements of humans and magical beings alike, and had changed his name fifteen times. He had kept his current name the longest, though, and considered it to be his real name instead of a pseudonym. He had forgotten the names he had used before, and preferred it that way.

He was the eldest and strongest of his kind, untouchable by time and (for the most part) death. He was considered dangerous and dark by the mortal wizards, and was respected by demons, vampires and werewolves alike (among others). His kind had been known by many names – incubus, daemon, _aes sídhe_ , tylwyth teg… but none of those truly captured what he was. If required to classify himself in terms a human would understand he would tentatively call himself a dark fae. He required energy syphoned from other beings – magical and non – to ‘eat’, but unlike incubi he didn’t rape or kill his victims; it was the fact he ‘fed’ from other sentient beings which had earned him the ‘dark’ classification. He got the energy he needed from his partners and they always enjoyed themselves; even if they felt tireder after sleeping with him than with anyone else they just brushed it off as him being the best lover they'd ever had. It did wonders for his ego when they did so, too. He was mischievous when he felt like it, just like the tylwyth teg, but like the _aes sídhe_ he had a dark side too, which came out when someone or something he cared about was being threatened or harmed. He wasn’t one or the other, or even a mix of both – he was one of those which the _aes sídhe_ and tylwyth teg had descended from millennia ago, those unnamable creatures he now considered classifying as ‘fae’ for lack of a better term.

Ianto Jones was a 1942-year-old dark fae, and his curiosity had been piqued by a young mortal wizard. Gods and goddesses help him…

 *

It was a full five years before Ianto saw the strong youth again, and when he did he instantly realised that said youth hadn’t aged more than a year since they had last seen each other. He also recognised now just _who_ the young wizard was. He had picked up a Daily Prophet a few years ago and instantly recognised the glaring wizard on the front page as the one he had seen in Surrey – he was Harry James Potter, known as the Boy Who Lived and the one to defeat Voldemort (stupid name, ignorant human man) finally.

So Ianto wasn’t exactly expecting to see Harry in a pub in London, scowling down at his half-empty pint while non-magical humans around him cheered or groaned at the football match being broadcast over the television. Despite still being so small there was such power and strength about him that Ianto couldn’t help but get closer, taking a seat on the stool beside Harry and leaning over to make a comment.

“The solution to your problem isn’t at the bottom of a pint,” he murmured, allowing his natural accent to strengthen in an attempt to catch the wizard’s attention. It worked, for the young man turned and exotic bright green eyes met his.

“No, but it makes me forget about the problem for a while,” Harry snorted, and Ianto watched in fascination as he lifted the remains of his drink and downed it in one go. He then nodded to the barman and left, and Ianto followed out of pure curiosity. He didn’t make a sound as he followed the wizard, and was only slightly surprised when the young man grabbed him by his lapels and shoved him up against the wall of the alley they had just entered, seeming determined to touch his tonsils with his tongue. Ianto wasn’t complaining in the slightest, responding easily to the kiss and almost shivering as waves of Harry’s power rippled over his sensitive skin.

Ianto felt Harry pull him away from the wall, and groaned in discomfort as he felt the unfamiliar but not unknown sensation of apparition a moment before he was shoved down on what felt like a bed.

 

Ianto hadn’t felt this alive in centuries. Harry may have been rather short in stature, but once his clothes were out of the way it was clear he was much stronger than he first appeared. His entire body was covered in lean, toned muscle, and Ianto could feel that his growth had most definitely _not_ been stunted in one place in particular.

Ianto planted one foot on the bed beneath him and flipped both of them suddenly, grinning impishly at the startled yelp he received from Harry with the manoeuvre. The green-eyed wizard didn’t have a chance to protest, however, as Ianto quickly crushed their lips together again, his eyes almost rolling up in his head behind his eyelids at the pure _amount_ of energy he felt at the passionate contact. Harry moaned into the kiss and wrapped his arms around Ianto’s neck, trying to buck up against the larger male and failing due to Ianto’s legs pinning him firmly to the bed. Harry growled in irritation, and Ianto smirked down at him before being extremely shocked when he found himself under the shorter man once more, Harry’s body settling between his legs.

Then he didn’t care, his head falling back and his back arching off the bed as he gasped from the sudden intrusion of a slick finger. Harry’s lips closed around one nipple, sucking harshly before he bit down and sent a thrill of pleasure through the dark fae. Ianto’s hands flew up and gripped tight to Harry’s shoulders, his legs relaxing and slipping further apart as the wizard added a second finger alongside the first. Ianto shifted a little in discomfort at the feeling – it had been a long time since he'd bottomed for anyone, and so it felt a little strange – but then gave a choked cry and jolted as Harry curved his fingers and stroked over his prostate firmly.

He felt Harry grin against his sternum, and took a breath to admonish the younger male but instead cried out again and dug his fingers into Harry’s shoulders when the wizard did… did _something_ that sent a bolt of pure pleasure through him. Gods, that _energy_ … it left him breathless and panting, writhing beneath Harry’s hands and mouth just wanting more and _more_ of that incredible pleasure and vitality.

Ianto wasn’t sure how long he was incoherent beneath the surprisingly talented young wizard, but his daze disappeared as the three – when had that third been added? – digits within him were removed and his legs were gripped and wrapped around a narrow pair of hips. Ianto met Harry’s bright green eyes and saw the question within, and nodded once – just once – to give his consent. That was all the younger man needed to continue.

Ianto’s nails lengthened and sharpened slightly as his control over his fully-human form slipped, digging into Harry’s back and dragging down slightly as the wizard thrust deep into him with one sharp movement. The wizard groaned and bit down on Ianto’s collarbone briefly, sharply, in retaliation. Ianto forced himself to calm down, panting heavily as his glazed electric-blue eyes stared up at the man currently buried within him. Hooded emerald-green stared back down at him, messy black hair falling over a faintly-scarred forehead as Harry trembled with the effort of holding himself still.

“Move,” Ianto whispered huskily, and Harry groaned again before beginning to do just that.

 *

Six hours and four positions later Ianto fell asleep beside the young wizard, feeling much more satisfied than he had in a very long time yet still longing to take in more of Harry’s seemingly limitless power. It was strange for him to feel so comfortable around someone he barely knew, especially someone so strong and powerful who could probably obliterate him if he really wanted to, but he couldn’t help slipping into the land of nod with one arm draped casually over Harry.

He woke to the sound of Harry speaking sharply to someone a few rooms away, and pushed himself up into a sitting position. A smile flashed across his face briefly at the satisfying ache he still felt, and he ran a hand through his sleep-mussed hair with a yawn.

Then he felt the roiling anger and irritation pulsing off the wizard he had spent the night with, and frowned worriedly before smoothing his expression when he heard a door slam and felt Harry stomping back towards the bedroom. He eyed the wizard for a moment, still able to feel the anger rolling off him, and then made his decision. He stood and walked over, spinning Harry to face the wall and pressing up behind him as he literally ripped away the younger male’s boxers.

He was determined to make him forget his anger…and to gorge himself on the wizard’s energy while he had the chance.

 

Noon came, and the pair stirred as sunlight filtered through the curtains finally to fall across their faces brightly. Harry groaned and turned away from the light, pressing his face into Ianto’s shoulder as the dark fae growled and shoved a pillow over his own face to block the sun.

“I hate hangovers,” Harry grumbled against Ianto’s shoulder, and the older male smothered his laughter in the pillow, although his body shook in a tell-tale manner. Harry grumbled incoherently and pinched the underside of Ianto’s arm, getting a jump and a yelp for his actions. Ianto shifted the pillow to glare down at the human tucked against his side, meeting a mischievously-twinkling green eye before rolling his own blue orbs and covering his face with the pillow again.

“We're awake now,” he muttered. “Might as well get up.”

“True,” Harry nodded against his shoulder, and Ianto wondered again at how comfortable he felt around the wizard. Neither of them made an attempt to move. “What are you?” the young wizard blurted suddenly, and Ianto tensed slightly. “I've never encountered anyone with energy like yours.” Ianto relaxed a little.

“If you had I would be concerned,” he commented lightly. “I'm the last of my kind.”

“Oh,” Harry mumbled, subdued. Ianto glanced down at him.

“What I am doesn’t really have a name, but the Ministry calls me The Dark Fae,” he admitted. “It's probably closest to what I am if I had to translate it to human terms.” Harry snorted.

“Bloody Ministry,” he sneered, flopping onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. “I take it you know who I am, then? I don’t even know your name.”

“Only vaguely,” Ianto shrugged as he ignored the last statement, sitting up and stretching before casting his eyes about in search of his clothes. “I don’t interact with the wizarding world much. They're too prejudiced for my tastes.” He pulled on his boxers and stood, slipping his arms into his shirt and buttoning it up as he looked around for his trousers. Harry pulled on an oversized shirt and a fresh pair of boxers, handing over Ianto’s trousers a moment later.

“I know what you mean,” he replied dryly. Ianto quirked a smile.

“I'm sure you do,” he chuckled, and leant across the bed to capture Harry’s lips in a slow but heated kiss. He smirked when he drew back and saw Harry’s slightly dazed expression, getting a scowl when the young man recovered. “Thanks for last night…and this morning.” He pulled on his jacket and grabbed his tie, socks and shoes. “Maybe I'll see you around, Harry.”

Resisting the urge to stay, Ianto stepped back into the shadows lingering in the corner of the room and melted through them back to his apartment. He would make sure he saw the young wizard again…at some point.


	2. Don’t Tell Me ‘Cause It Hurts

Ianto shrank back into the shadows as he watched the Cybermen drag the human employees of Torchwood London away for conversion, a sick feeling in his stomach at the thought of what was about to become of the poor archivists. The archivists were the most human and humane of all Torchwood One employees, and they didn’t deserve the fate they were about to meet. He couldn’t save them – unshielded electricity did not agree with his system – and he couldn’t stay to hear their screams. If he left, though, he'd be considered dead or missing and the human family he was supporting would grieve for him. No, he had to wait it out as long as possible, and ignore the stench of blood and fear which had started to permeate the lower levels of the base.

He pressed his hands over his ears and shut his eyes tightly, pressing his back against the wall behind him and allowing only two tears to run down his face as the screams of the innocents filled the air.

 

Hours later, when it was over, Ianto forced himself to move towards the half-converted humans, hoping that they were unconscious if they were still alive so he could put them out of their pain and misery.

The first few he came across were dead, their glazed eyes still showing their terror as they stared lifelessly up at the ceiling, and he gently closed their eyes and whispered an old prayer he remembered from his childhood after his grandparents had been murdered.

“May your next life be kind,” he murmured, and moved on to the next conversion unit only to meet the pain and terror-filled gaze of a young junior researcher named Lisa Hallet, with whom he had developed a friendship of sorts over the past eight months. There were tears in the usually strong woman’s eyes, her body a mixture of flesh and metal, and Ianto sighed softly as he placed a hand on part of her cheek that wasn’t converted to metal already.

“Please, Ianto,” she gasped out, and Ianto closed his eyes as he leant down and kissed her forehead.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered. Her brown eyes stared at him fearfully, and Ianto gave a sad smile. “There's nothing I can do but ease the pain. I'm sorry.” Lisa inhaled, her pain increasing, and then exhaled with a partial nod.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone,” she breathed, and Ianto nodded.

“I'm sorry. May your next life be kind,” he whispered, and drew her life force swiftly out of her broken body. Her eyes stared glassily up at the ceiling, and Ianto shut them before moving on once more.

 

He had reached the third-last victim when someone arrived, and he cast the curly-haired woman a fleeting glance before gently shutting the young man’s eyes and murmuring the prayer. He moved on to the next, repeating his actions, and then stepped up to the last of the forty-odd young archivists and junior researchers whose lives had been stolen so abruptly. He was still alive.

“Please, help me,” the young man begged, and Ianto shook his head sadly.

“I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do but make your passing quick and painless,” he said gently, and tears welled in the youth’s eyes. He couldn’t be more than seventeen years old, and he was so, so afraid. If Ianto remembered correctly (and he usually did) then the youth’s name was Joshua Nicholson and he had only been working here for three weeks now. “You did nothing to deserve this, child,” Ianto sighed, stroking the remaining soft brown hair back from his wild and teary eyes. “I am so sorry this happened to you.”

“Will you…will you tell my mum what happened?” he asked, his voice trembling despite his attempts to be brave, and Ianto nodded solemnly.

“I swear, Joshua,” he promised, and the teen closed his eyes as tears rolled down his cheeks freely. Ianto put a hand on Joshua’s shoulder and sent a gentle pulse of calm to him, relieving the pain for a moment as he drew the remaining life force from the partially-converted teen. Joshua exhaled one last time, and Ianto leant down to kiss his forehead gently. “May your next life be kind, Joshua Nicholson,” he whispered, and then stepped back from the conversion unit. He stared out over the forty-plus bodies sadly, and then turned to look at the woman who was now staring at him compassionately.

 

“Did you know all of them?” she asked softly, and Ianto gave a bitter laugh.

“I worked with them. All of them have been here for less than a year, all in minor positions in research or my subordinates in the archives,” he informed her, looking back at the silent room. “Joshua was recruited three weeks ago, straight out of high school. I told Yvonne to wait a few years, but no, the head archivist doesn’t have any say in the people placed in his department,” he said scathingly, and then ran a hand irritably through his mussed hair before looking back at the woman. “Ianto Jones,” he introduced quietly, holding out a hand to shake. The woman took it.

“Suzie Costello,” she returned. “I'm sorry for your losses.”

“Everyone dies in the end,” Ianto sighed. Suzie nodded sadly in agreement. “You're not Torchwood London.”

“Cardiff,” Suzie admitted. “Jack sent me with the other two to help out.” Ianto just nodded semi-absently, and then dug in his rumpled suit pockets for a moment before producing a lighter and a roll of paper he'd scavenged from an office. He lit the paper and tossed it into the centre of the room full of conversion units, where the flames caught onto the wood shavings covering the floor and started to build.

“Come on, or it'll destroy you too,” Ianto said simply, and tugged Suzie to the stairs leading up.

“What about the information in the archives?” Suzie protested. “I was supposed to collect it.”

“On this,” Ianto said as he held up a portable hard drive which he had just produced from his jacket pocket. “What isn’t here is in my head. Eidetic memory,” he explained to Suzie’s stunned look. Her expression cleared and she nodded, and Ianto placed the hard drive in her hands once they had reached ground level.

“What?” she blurted.

“The password to override the lockout is ‘cythraul’, C-Y-T-H-R-A-U-L,” he informed her quietly. “My contact details are in the only unencrypted file on there. If you need more information about anything in particular in those files, contact me.” Suzie nodded, still a little in shock, and Ianto hurried off before she could protest.

* 

That evening Ianto knocked on the front door of Joshua Nicholson’s family home, still dressed in his mussed suit and bearing a cut just below his hairline from a beam which had fallen on him while he was searching his former place of employment for survivors. The door opened to reveal a worried-looking brunette woman in her late thirties, early forties, and Ianto dug out his civilian-friendly ID to show her. Joshua would have had one too, so she should recognise it.

“May I come in, Mrs Nicholson?” he asked gently when she gasped and covered her mouth, tears forming in her eyes at the conclusion she had reached. The woman nodded shakily and stepped aside, allowing Ianto to enter the house and then leading him to the sitting room.

Once they were seated, Ianto began to relay the bad news.

“I'm sorry, but Joshua didn’t make it,” he said softly, honest sadness etched into his entire demeanour. Mrs Nicholson started sobbing. “He asked me to tell you what happened. Is the rest of your family in?” The woman shook her head rapidly.

“M-my husband passed away last year,” she said shakily, sniffling and wiping her eyes with her sleeves. “Joshua…he's my only child, my little boy,” she sobbed, and Ianto hesitated a moment before moving to sit beside her and wrapping his arms around her shoulders, rubbing her back gently as she wept into his shoulder.

When she had calmed down just enough to hear anything he would say, he pulled back and placed both hands on her shoulders, meeting her eyes seriously.

“Joshua was a brilliant, intelligent young man, Mrs Nicholson,” he said firmly. “I would have preferred him to be older when he was hired, but I never regretted that he was one of my staff.” Mrs Nicholson swallowed thickly.

“How many survived?” she asked, as if afraid to hear the answer. Ianto sighed quietly and looked down at his hands.

“From the archives and research division, only me,” he admitted softly. “A few people had been found by the time I left, but not many. It's not much of a condolence, I know, but Joshua…he kept fighting right to the end. He was one of the bravest people I know.”

Joshua’s mother broke down into body-shaking tears.

 

Lisa Hallett had no family bar a younger brother who was currently studying at Oxford University. Ianto was not looking forward to speaking to the young man, but he knew he owed Lisa and her brother that much for recruiting her. So, standing outside Jordan Hallett’s dorm, he steeled himself and knocked briskly on the door while ignoring the looks of surprise, disdain, fear and curiosity on the faces of the students wandering past.

“Who are you?” Jordan asked as he opened the door, frowning at Ianto. The young man was a few inches shorter than Ianto but quite broad, and his head was shaved close to his skull. He had Lisa’s eyes, though, and that caused a twinge of pain to go through the Welshman. He had been close to Lisa – she was a brilliant woman and a good friend – and her death was really starting to hit him.

“Jordan Hallett?” he asked, gathering himself together. The young man nodded, more than a little wary. “May I come in? It's about Lisa.” Jordan’s eyes widened and he nodded again, and he stepped aside to let Ianto in. The youth sat on his bed and gestured to the chair by the desk, and Ianto gratefully took a seat. He sat for a moment trying to figure out where to start – it didn’t get any easier.

“What happened to Lisa?” Jordan asked when it didn’t seem like Ianto was going to speak, and the Welshman took a deep breath.

“Lisa died today in the attack at Canary Wharf.”

* 

In Torchwood Three, Cardiff, Suzie Costello placed a portable hard drive down on the desk in front of her boss, Jack Harkness. He looked up from his paperwork and raised an eyebrow.

“This is the entire archives of Torchwood London digitalised,” the curly-haired woman stated. “The head archivist told me the password to get in and his number.” A smirk curled Jack’s lips, and Suzie rolled her eyes. “He gave me his number so we could call if he had any questions.”

“And you just trusted this man, why?” Jack asked, sitting back in his chair and eyeing the hard drive a little warily. Suzie hesitated, frowning slightly. How did she explain to Jack the compassion and sorrow she had seen in Ianto Jones? How did she explain that the young man had just seemed so _trustworthy_?

“I don’t know, but he had no reason to lie to me,” she said finally. Jack looked back up at her, this time raising both eyebrows. “Look, if you don’t think the password is right then get Toshiko to crack it, but even if he lied to me it's too late. One’s archives have been burnt down.” Jack scowled slightly and sat back in his chair.

“Take it to Tosh,” he agreed. “Tell her the password and get her to check that it's right before you do anything else.”

“It's not my first time, Jack,” Suzie said dryly, and left as Jack laughed at the direction his mind automatically went in.

* 

A full day after leaving Torchwood London for the last time, Ianto had made his last visit. He had gone personally to the relatives of each of his now-deceased co-workers, speaking with family and partners and doing his best to comfort them for their loss. He sighed as he finally entered his London apartment, locking the door behind him and removing his now-ruined suit. He tossed it into the bin in the kitchen and walked naked into his living room, shedding his human form as the stress of the past few days caught up with him. He hadn’t been this tense or tired in decades, and settled onto his full-length couch to stare up at the ceiling in an attempt to relax.

Ianto wasn’t sure when he'd last let anyone see his true, natural form. He looked very much the same as he did in human form, but as his human form was modelled off his natural form that wasn’t exactly surprising. There were a few noticeable differences between forms, and said differences were why he posed as human.

His nails were half-inch-long black claws which jutted past the pads of his fingers – deadly weapons in the right situations. His skin was a light bluish purple shade, and his electric blue eyes were slitted like a cat’s. His ears were pointed and moveable, able to swivel to focus on particular sounds much like an animal’s. Thick black lines in intricate and indecipherable designs and runes marked his arms, legs, torso and the right-hand side of his face, looking like tattoos to the uninformed, and actually moved when he was feeding or using his preternatural abilities.

Closing his eyes, Ianto started planning his next move.

 

Three days later, Ianto Jones came across one Captain Jack Harkness fighting a Weevil as he walked through a patch of woodland in a Cardiff park.


	3. Pterodactyl or Pteranodon?

Jack was conflicted. He usually wasn’t this torn about someone he'd just met, but ‘Jones, Ianto Jones’ was different and thus the cause of his current inner conflict. The man was attractive – very much so – and normally Jack would just seduce him and be done with it. The thing was, Ianto Jones knew about Torchwood and Weevils, wanted a job at the former, and didn’t seem to be attracted to him (although after the comment about the coat Jack thought he may have to reconsider that assumption). It was confusing. _Ianto_ was confusing.

When he got back to the Hub, Jack instantly ordered Toshiko to run a search on the man.

“Wait, Ianto Jones?” Suzie interrupted as Tosh nodded and brought up the program required. Jack turned to look at her. “The head archivist of Torchwood One is called Ianto Jones.” Jack froze for a moment and then frowned.

“You think it's the same guy?”

“I don’t know,” Suzie shrugged. “What did he look like?”

“Short dark hair, blue eyes, about my height,” Jack rattled off. “Probably in his mid-twenties at most.”

“Sounds like him,” Suzie nodded. “Was he Welsh?”

“Yeah,” Jack scowled. “I don’t want any of London’s murderers working here. Tosh, cancel that search.”

Suzie opened her mouth to protest that Ianto had seemed different, that there had been unshed tears in the man’s eyes for his fallen comrades and grief flowing off him, but Jack had already stalked off.

 

Ianto collapsed as soon as the door to his apartment closed behind him. His legs just gave out from underneath him, and he exhaled shakily as he leant back against his door and tried to calm his racing heart. He'd known as soon as he came across the leader of Torchwood Three that there was something different about the man, but he hadn’t realised even part of it until he'd helped him off the ground. The pure amount of energy Jack Harkness held was almost enough to make Ianto high, and that was just from touching his hand!

A tremor shook his entire body at the thought of how it would feel to be skin-to-skin with the man. Gods, he'd not felt that much pure _errêve_ in a person since he'd met Harry however many years ago. And since he'd not been expecting it, it had nearly knocked him flat on his back. Thankfully he managed to keep himself under control until he reached the privacy of his home.

“Fuck,” he whispered finally, and levered himself to his feet to stumble towards his bedroom. He would have to be very careful about coming into physical contact with Captain Jack Harkness.

 

The little sleep Ianto got that night was filled with memories in the form of nightmares. He had lived so long, and much of that time he had been alone. The nightmares brought to the forefront of his mind the worse times he had lived through. The memories/nightmares didn’t come to him in any particular order, and he didn’t know why they'd returned at such an odd time, but all Ianto could focus on was the pain – both physical and emotional – which the memories brought forth.

In his nightmares, Ianto saw again the death of his childhood friend and first love. He saw the deaths of his parents and the destruction of his people. He saw a great friend perish in flames while her enemies restrained him in cold iron shackles.

He watched helplessly as a wedge was driven between two powerful men he considered as close as brothers. He left their home sadly with one when the other finally chased him away. He saw another friend betray him, and felt again the torture he had been subjected to as a result.

Ianto woke screaming as memories of the destruction of Torchwood One overwhelmed him.

 *

“Hey, girl,” Ianto murmured as he inched closer to the pterodactyl inhabiting an abandoned warehouse near the docks of Cardiff. The prehistoric beast gave a screech in warning, but relaxed remarkably swiftly when Ianto released his human disguise. Clearly his grandmother had told the truth when she said their kind had once lived alongside all creatures since the beginning of life on Earth. The creature wouldn’t recognise him if she had been wrong.

“ _Be calm, young one_ ,” he soothed in his mother tongue, lifting a hand slowly towards the out-of-time reptilian. The pterodactyl crooned, and Ianto smiled as he placed a hand lightly between her eyes.

The serene moment ended as a vehicle of some sort – an SUV if Ianto heard right – screeched to a halt outside. The pterodactyl took flight and Ianto quickly resumed his human appearance. Mere seconds later the door opened and one Captain Jack Harkness entered cautiously.

 

If Ianto Jones was surprised to see Jack, he certainly didn’t show it. The young Welshman looked quite calm and composed in his impeccable fitted suit, and Jack discovered a previously-unknown fetish for handsome men in suits. Or maybe it was just this Welshman in a suit.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded. Jones opened his mouth to reply but a shriek from overhead stopped him and distracted Jack. The source of the cry swooped down and Ianto ducked a wing even as Jack crouched and swore. “What is that?!”

“I believe she is a pterodactyl, sir,” Ianto said calmly, standing straight and brushing off his suit despite there being nothing on it that Jack could see. “Or possibly a pteranodon.”

“Sir, huh?” Jack smirked. “I think I like the sound of that.”

“Of course you do,” Ianto muttered, so softly that Jack wasn’t quite sure he'd heard him correctly. The immortal didn’t have time to really think about it, as the pterodactyl made another dive and forced him to duck again. Once the creature was up near the roof again, Jack grabbed Ianto by the back of his suit jacket and dragged him from the warehouse.

 

Ianto shot a withering glance at Jack as he straightened his jacket with a sharp tug. The human with the overpowering _errêve_ didn’t see the glare, as he was rummaging around in the boot of his SUV. He appeared to be searching for something, but there was such clutter in the back of the vehicle that it seemed to Ianto that it was nearly impossible to find anything.

After a full three minutes of searching Jack made a sound of triumph and emerged from the SUV with a mid-sized silver briefcase in his hands. Ianto couldn’t resist teasing the man just a little, although he did know it likely wasn’t a good idea.

“What, no dinosaur nets?” he asked, and Jack gave him an indecipherable look. “And here I thought it was a standard piece of every Torchwood field kit.”

“We're nothing like _London_ ,” Jack responded sharply, and Ianto’s face hardened at the loathing which practically dripped from his words.

“Don’t you dare lump me in with Hartman and her loyal murderers,” he spat, blue eyes flashing brighter with his irritation. “I am – was – an archivist, nothing more, and I never agreed with their twisted policy.” Ianto’s glare could have frozen the sun with its ice. Jack just stared after him, speechless for the first time in decades, when the Welshman walked calmly and silently back into the warehouse.

 

Ianto was highly irritated by Jack’s assumptions about his character, for assuming that he was like the majority of the active employees of Torchwood London. He wasn’t going to leave him to tackle a fully-grown out-of-time pterodactyl, though. He'd help capture the prehistoric beastie, and see if maybe he'd be permitted to take care of her so she was fed correctly and survived wherever Jack was planning to take her.

“Are you insane?” Jack hissed as he came up behind Ianto, looking around warily for the pterodactyl. The suit-clad man shot him a mild glare.

“You came _alone_ to capture a creature over five times your size with only a tranquiliser,” he said dryly, “and you think _I_ am insane?” He reached inside his jacket and produced a largish bar of dark chocolate. The bittersweet confection should distract the prehistoric creature for a moment at least. “A distraction,” he shrugged at Jack’s odd look. “It should give you a chance to tranquilise her.”

The creature in question landed in front of them, and Ianto took a step forward and to one side, hoping the pterodactyl would turn her back on Jack and that the human would take advantage of the stupid thing he was about to do.

 

Ianto muttered curses in Welsh and his native tongue as he pushed himself off Jack and stepped away, dusting off his suit and straightening it as the human got to his feet and moved a few steps closer to the fallen pterodactyl.

“She's still conscious,” Ianto stated calmly. Jack jumped back as the beast twitched and made a small sound similar to a moan. “What do you plan to do with her?”

“Take her back to the Hub, take care of her,” Jack shrugged. He then eyed Ianto speculatively. “Why do you ask?” Ianto didn’t answer, instead walking past Jack and gently placing his hand between the pterodactyl’s eyes before heading to the door.

He stopped with one hand on the doorhandle when Jack called out ‘hey’. He turned to face the human once more.

“Yes?”

“You know, we could use an archivist,” Jack hedged, and Ianto allowed a smile to curve his lips just a tad.

“Is this your way of asking me to work for you, Captain Harkness?” he asked lightly, teasing the man a little. Jack smiled back at him with that little half-grin of his, similar to the smile he'd given at their first encounter.

“Maybe. Are you saying yes?” he asked in return, and Ianto chuckled quietly. He didn’t answer directly, instead walking back over to where the human stood beside the sedated pterodactyl.

“You’ve got something I'm quite fond of, so I suppose I am,” Ianto said finally, putting one hand on the prehistoric creature’s crest. Jack grinned.

“Excellent.”

 

After helping to pack the pterodactyl into the back of the SUV, Ianto went to leave once more. He was again stopped by Jack.

“Hey, Ianto,” the leader of Torchwood Three called, and Ianto turned to raise an eyebrow at the man. “Meet me on Roald Dahl Plas tomorrow morning. I'll give you the guided tour.” He winked as he said it, and Ianto rolled his eyes slightly. He couldn’t help the little smile that curved his lips, though.

“Of course,” he half-smirked.

“Love the suit, by the way,” Jack called as Ianto walked away, and Ianto grinned.

“Careful sir, I believe that’s harassment,” he called back, and snickered quietly to himself as he heard Jack laugh and climb into the SUV.

So he now had a job, at a ‘rebel’ branch of the organisation he'd been working in for the past decade…well, this should be interesting at the very least.

 

Jack grinned as he shut the door of his SUV and tapped his com. unit, opening the channel between him and the Hub.

“Looks like we got ourselves an archivist,” he smirked, and heard cheers from Tosh and Owen.

 _“You better not have bullied him into it, Jack Harkness,”_ Suzie warned, and Jack snorted.

“I don’t think I could have,” he admitted, and started the engine. “Oh, and someone make space for our new pterodactyl.”

* 

The next morning Ianto was given a tour of the Hub by a half-grinning half-smirking Jack Harkness. Ianto could tell the man was proud of the place, but to be completely honest it was so disorganised and cluttered that Ianto just _knew_ he would be doing more general maintenance than archiving. He didn’t really mind, though – it gave him something to do, at least.

He was introduced to the rest of the team, and nodded a greeting to Suzie Costello before she could introduce herself.

“Miss Costello,” he greeted.

“Mr Jones,” she returned with a small smile. “Maybe you can tell us what all the shorthand is in those archive records,” she added, and Ianto gave a small grin.

“My apologies – I often slip into my first language when taking notes,” he admitted. “I'll translate those for you as soon as possible.”

“Thank you,” Toshiko smiled at him. “If you don’t mind me asking, what _is_ your first language? It isn’t Welsh.”

“It's an old dialect of Welsh,” Ianto corrected. “It is rarely used anymore.” Tosh made a sound of comprehension and went back to her computers. The other two followed her example and went back to their own stations, and Jack led Ianto up to his office for some general housekeeping – the dreaded paperwork.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> errêve - life force, life energy


	4. Coffee! And Gwen Cooper…

Four days after hiring Ianto Jones, Jack woke to the smell of coffee brewing. And not just any coffee – it was the most appetising coffee scent he'd ever come across. He stumbled from his camp bed and pulled on his trousers, climbing the ladder from his bunker to his office and following the delicious scent to its source.

He found himself in the Hub’s kitchen area, looking at the back of his newest employee.

“Good morning, sir,” Ianto said calmly without turning, pouring rich black coffee into a mug. The Welshman turned and held it out to Jack, not even seeming to notice that the man wasn’t wearing a shirt as Jack took the mug. Jack took a sip of the steaming coffee in his hand, and his eyes widened even as a groan of bliss escaped him. Ianto’s cheeks tinted pink with a blush.

“That is the best coffee I've ever tasted,” Jack managed finally. It had taken a few moments for his tastebuds to recover from the incredible coffee enough for him to speak.

“I've had a lot of practise,” Ianto replied modestly, turning back to the coffee machine Jack hadn’t even realised they owned.

 

A minute or so later, when Jack had finished his coffee, Ianto was gripped by the shoulder and spun around before he could comprehend what was happening.

“What are you doing here so early?” Jack demanded, and Ianto resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he removed Jack’s hand from his shoulder.

“I don’t sleep much. I was bored and decided to come in early. Is that a problem, sir?” Ianto’s voice was polite and calm as always, removing all possible venom or sarcasm from his tone. Jack wasn’t sure if Ianto was being sarcastic or honest in his query. He decided to reply honestly.

“Not at all,” he shook his head. “That coffee is incredible.”

“So you said,” Ianto responded dryly, but there was a smile curving his lips. “Thank you,” he added quieter. He wasn’t used to people complimenting his coffee-making skills so sincerely. Jack grinned at him – that immensely attractive crooked smile – and held out his empty mug to the Welshman.

“Another?” he asked with a pout and puppy eyes, and Ianto rolled his eyes before refilling the cup as requested.

 *

Three months later Ianto was being called ‘tea-boy’ on a regular basis by Owen, and his four co-workers were entirely dependent on him for their caffeine fix. He was fixing himself a coffee one evening after Toshiko and Owen had gone home, when he heard Jack calling for him. He and Suzie had just returned from a retrieval mission. Ianto poured two more mugs of coffee and put them on a tray with his before heading down to where Jack and Suzie were standing by the latter’s work-station.

“There you are,” Jack grinned as Ianto approached, and his grin brightened to a delighted smile when he saw the coffee mugs on the tray. “Coffee! Thanks,” he added as Ianto passed over his mug. Suzie took hers with a small smile and murmur of thanks, and Ianto placed aside his tray as he cradled his own mug in his hands. “Wonderful as always, Ianto,” Jack praised, and then directed Ianto’s attention to the two artefacts he and Suzie had retrieved. “Have you ever seen anything like these in London’s archives?”

Ianto looked closer at the objects and then shook his head. He'd never come across anything even remotely similar to the odd-shaped knife and gauntlet currently on Suzie’s work table. He didn’t like the feeling he was getting from them, though.

The special thing about _errêve_ was that it was present in everything in existence, including metal (even though in dead objects and metals it was null, with only traces evident). The metal glove and the accompanying knife weren’t null, and neither did they contain _errêve_ of their own. They were the opposite – they were voids of _errêve_ , pulling in the energy from the world around them. Suzie was pale and wan, although she was looking better with every sip of coffee she took, and even Jack didn’t look as perky as he usually did.

Despite her fatigue, however, Suzie was eyeing the glove with a strange obsessive gleam in the usually kind orbs. A chill ran down Ianto’s spine, and the void of _errêve_ around the objects seemed to pulse. He had to tell Jack not to try and figure them out. Maybe the man would even listen to him.

“Sir, may I have a word?”

 

Up in Jack’s office, Ianto did not allow his professional persona to fall. Instead he took a deep breath to steady himself, feeling better for being further away from the two artefacts on Suzie’s desk.

“Well? What is it, Ianto?”

“Sir…Jack.” The use of his name caught Jack’s attention, and Ianto forged on quickly. “There is something malicious about the knife and glove. I don’t know what, but I don’t think anyone should handle them bare-handed until we know more.”

“Ianto…”

“Suzie is pale, her hands are shaky, and she has an obsessive look in her eyes when she looks at either item,” Ianto interrupted with a grim look on his face. “Jack, please, will you at least consider it? There is something not right about either the knife or the glove.” Jack met his eyes for a long moment, and then nodded slowly, just once.

“I'll consider it,” he allowed. Ianto knew that was the best he'd get, and relaxed just a little.

“Thank you,” he murmured. “Just…” Jack raised an eyebrow. “Don’t ask me to touch them. I…I have a bad feeling about it.” Jack frowned, but he nodded.

“Alright. I'll keep an eye on Suzie while she's working on them.” Ianto hid his relief as best he could, but he knew Jack would see it in his eyes as the man had yet to break eye contact. His father had always said his emotions were visible in his eyes no matter how blank he made his face. “It's getting late – why don’t you go home? Tell Suzie to do the same on your way out,” he added. Ianto nodded and left.

 

When his employees were gone, Jack made his way down to where the knife and glove were sitting innocently on Suzie’s work table. There was definitely something dark about them. Jack had to admit that much, if only to himself. Ianto was right about there being something _wrong_ about the artefacts, but they had to know just _what_ made them so dark before locking them away. Suzie was the best person to figure out what they were and what they did, so he'd have to let her work on them. He'd just have to keep an eye on her while she did so.

* 

Ianto arrived at his apartment feeling profound relief. He hadn’t thought Jack would listen to him about the two void-like artefacts, but he had and he'd semi-promised to keep an eye on Suzie while she worked on them.

A sudden attack of dizziness hit Ianto suddenly, and he sank down onto his couch. He took long deep breaths in an attempt to clear his sight and stop his head from spinning. It only took a moment to realise why he had been so dizzy. He hadn’t ‘fed’ for a while. Human food could only sustain him for so long without being supplemented by the _errêve_ of a human or some other being, and it had been three months since he'd last fed on anyone’s _errêve_. If he didn’t want to collapse into a coma and start drawing _errêve_ from everything within a five-mile radius, he would need to feed very soon.

Time to go hunting.

 

Owen didn’t know what or who he'd expected to see while on the pull that night, but watching the tea-boy successfully rope in an incredibly attractive young redheaded woman with no apparent effort wasn’t it.

Ianto was dressed in fitted jeans and a dark red T-shirt that was stretched over muscle Owen hadn’t realised the tea-boy had. He didn’t look anything like what he did at the Hub – he was more confident yet relaxed, and something about him was drawing the eyes of many women (and some men) in the bar. Hell, he looked so damn hot that _Owen_ would have done him, and the doctor didn’t usually go for blokes.

If he approached the tea-boy with that intent, though, it would just be awkward. Still there was nothing stopping him from eyeing up the Welshman and his redheaded conquest. They looked pretty good together.

Owen turned back to the bar and ordered another pint, and by the time he glanced back at where Ianto and his conquest had been, they were nowhere to be seen.

Pity. He'd wanted a bit of dirt on the tea-boy.

 

Ianto slipped out of the motel room his redheaded partner had booked, straightening his shirt and strolling casually towards the stairs leading down. Once in the shadows, he travelled across town to a gay bar he had heard of on his last night out. While the redhead had been attractive and enthusiastic, her stamina was lacking, especially when he took a tiny portion of her _errêve_. He could probably find a better source in a more mature human, and males in general tended to have more stamina.

He got into the club without difficulty, and swept his intense electric-blue gaze across the various patrons of the club. His eyes lingered here and there on a pair of broad shoulders or muscular arms, or dipped down to eye narrow swaying hips in tight denim or leather. A faint smirk curled his lips as he noticed quite a few attractive men returning his appreciative glances, and he leant against the bar casually to order a drink. He wouldn’t have to wait long to be approached, and from there he'd be able to replenish his energy at his leisure.

 

Ianto was at work the next day at his usual hour, but felt much more alive than he had when he'd left the Hub the night before. He smiled and nodded a ‘good morning’ to Toshiko when he stopped by her computer station to give her the first coffee of the day at 8am, and greeted Suzie with a touch more warmth than usual when she stepped into the Hub at 8.15am. Jack he had smiled at and made a cheeky quip, shocking the man into spluttering on his first sip of coffee for the day. He even said a polite hello to Owen when he strolled in at 9am, but unlike the bewildered acceptance of his good mood from the others, Owen smirked at him.

“I take it that pretty little bit you hooked up with last night put out, tea-boy?” the doctor smirked, and Ianto smirked right back at him.

“That is for me to know and you to never find out,” he said glibly, and strolled off as Owen barked out a laugh and went to the autopsy room.

The others stood and stared at nothing for a good two minutes as they tried to process what had just happened.

* 

The glove was used four times on human corpses despite Ianto’s warning. Four people were dragged back to the world of the living by the metal gauntlet on Suzie’s hand, their _errêve_ being kindled by the energy gathered by the void of the gauntlet. Suzie became more and more withdrawn, and Jack didn’t seem to notice. It agitated Ianto, and he took a metaphorical step back from the team as a result.

No one seemed to realise he was withdrawing, and that more than anything else made him realise that something was having a bigger impact on the team than he'd first thought. Ever since he'd joined – until recently, at least – the other four had made an effort to include him in some way, shape or form. Recently, he'd been ‘demoted’ to tea-boy, archivist and general support – someone who worked with them, but wasn’t their equal.

He didn’t like it one bit.

* 

Ianto frowned as he leafed through the records in his hands, and then recounted the bottles of Retcon in the normally-locked cabinet. He lifted a hand and turned on his communication unit, opening the secure line to Jack’s unit.

“Sir, there is a discrepancy with the Retcon,” he stated. Jack replied almost instantly.

 _“We don’t always get the chance to log our use, Ianto. Don’t worry about it.”_ Ianto frowned at the man’s flippancy.

“Sir, even factoring in the possible unlogged emergency use, there are at least three hundred doses missing.” Before Jack could reply, the Rift alarm went off.

 _“Hold that thought, Ianto. We'll be back later.”_ The connection cut off, and Ianto growled in irritation.

“Damn that man,” he muttered under his breath, and set aside the paper records to head upstairs and feed Myfanwy.

* 

Ianto decided almost immediately that he was not fond of Gwen Cooper. The woman was opinionated and naïve, and very, very nosy. He was relieved when Jack quietly asked him to delete anything she might write down to remind herself after he Retconned her. Call him selfish, but he didn’t want the woman hanging about _his_ team. There was something about her which reminded him of the long-dead _uruê_ , and he really didn’t want her around the people he cared about.

He deleted her fumbling document as soon as she stopped typing, and with a satisfied smirk on his face grabbed his coat to head out in search of a good ‘meal’. Maybe he should take Jack up on his offer next time he came onto him.

 

The next night Ianto received a message from Jack.

_Gwen Cooper is joining Torchwood._

Fuck.

 


	5. A Not-So-Little Death

Ianto picked up his phone at 3am, saying a rather groggy “hello?” as he answered.

 _“This Ianto Jones?”_ a gruff voice asked, and Ianto pushed himself up into a sitting position as the question broke through his tired daze.

“Speaking. Who is this?”

 _“I'm the manager of the Howlin’ Wolf pub,”_ the gruff man replied. _“Yer mate here, Owen, needs a ride.”_

“I'll be there in fifteen minutes,” Ianto sighed. “Thanks for calling.”

He dressed in jeans, a white tee and an old leather jacket, and grabbed up his motorbike keys on his way out the door. This wasn’t like Owen…he hoped the man was alright.

 

Pulling up outside the only pub in the city that catered to non-human and human clients, Ianto parked his bike and removed his helmet. He was scowling as he strode through the front door past the bored-looking bouncer with a curt nod.

Owen was slumped over at the counter, snoring quietly and drooling a little. A blonde young woman was sitting beside him, poking him sporadically with a slender length of wood – a wand. She was a witch.

The woman looked up when he approached, her dazed blue eyes clearing when they met his. She smiled prettily at him as she tucked her wand behind her ear like an oversized pencil.

“Your human friend is mourning, _l'næra_ warrior,” she said simply. Ianto froze at her term of address. He hadn’t heard that word from someone else’s lips in over 1500 years. “The death of your co-worker hurt him deeply.”

“You're a Seer,” Ianto realised, and the petite blonde woman nodded.

“Owen grieves for Suzie Costello,” she sighed, placing a hand on Owen’s head lightly for a moment. “She was important to him, but not he to her. He hides his grief well.” Her eyes snapped up to meet his piercingly. “Be a friend to him, Ianto Jones. He needs it.” Ianto nodded, and the blonde woman stood to wander off, humming dreamily to herself as she did so.

Ianto looked down at Owen – still snoring on the bar – and sighed.

“Just shadow him home,” the bartender – a werewolf named Lukas with whom he was acquainted – chuckled. “He won’t suspect a thing.”

“I'm sure,” Ianto sighed, and gripped the doctor’s shoulder before sinking through the shadows and reappearing in his living room. He deposited the sleeping man on his couch, and went back for his motorcycle. He'd have fun explaining to Owen in the morning.

 *

“Possible alien craft coming in over the city,” Toshiko called from her beeping computer, and Ianto helped Jack into his coat as the man barked orders at the others. Tosh and Owen hurried to grab their kits and head up to the SUV, Owen carefully avoiding Ianto’s eyes as he had been for the past three days, ever since he woke up on the Welshman’s lounge. Jack turned to the patiently-waiting Ianto.

“Prepare a cell for our return, just in case we have a hostile.” Ianto nodded, and then gave a shocked gasp as Jack leant closer and kissed him quickly. When Ianto jerked his head back in shock the man was grinning at him. “I've been wanting to do that for weeks.” Ianto controlled himself, standing straight and bringing up his professional mask. His legs were trembling with the unexpected surge of _errêve_ he'd felt from the brief contact of lips on lips.

“I believe that’s harassment, sir,” he murmured, and Jack’s grin broadened a little at the amused light in Ianto’s eyes. The leader of Torchwood Cardiff hurried off after the others. “What in the world brought that on?” Ianto wondered aloud as he went to do as asked.

 

Jack felt like swearing in all the languages he'd ever learnt when the pink-purple alien gas escaped thanks to the newbie throwing a fucking chisel towards the giant rock. Sure, Owen had fired up the Welsh woman’s temper, but that was no excuse to forget basic safety or common sense and _throw_ a sharp item near an unidentified, possibly dangerous, possibly alien object.

“Ianto,” he said into his com unit, hanging back as Toshiko and Owen ushered Gwen – who was apologising incessantly – back to the SUV. “Ianto, are you there?”

 _“Yes, sir,”_ Ianto replied. _“Is something wrong?”_

“The new girl needs a copy of the handbook,” Jack grouched.

 _“What happened? Are you alright? How are Owen and Tosh?”_ Ianto asked with worry clear in his tone, and the tension melted right out of Jack’s body.

“We're all fine,” Jack assured the Welshman. “The idiot threw a chisel and it cracked open what I'm guessing is some sort of spacecraft. I want you scanning the police channels for anything which is our sort of unusual.”

 _“Will do. The handbook will be on Gwen’s desk when she returns.”_ Jack couldn’t help but smile. Ianto had proved repeatedly that he could be depended on more than Jack had ever hoped when he'd hired the man.

“Thanks, Ianto. We'll see you soon.”

* 

Ianto couldn’t help but smirk in satisfaction as he dumped a four-inch-thick book of Torchwood rules, regulations and basic training information on Gwen’s desk. The thick volume was written in tiny script, and Jack would want the woman to read it cover to cover before he allowed her out on another field mission. He was looking forward to seeing the look on Gwen’s face when she saw the manual and realised she was required to read it thoroughly. Maybe he could get Tosh to bring up the CCTV footage and save a screenshot of it for future viewing.

Call him vindictive, but he really did not like Gwen Cooper, and not just because her _errêve_ reminded him of the _uruê_.

He moved over to Tosh’s computers and brought up the programs she used to track police reports. There was nothing unusual so far, but it had only been five minutes since Jack had called. There was plenty of time for something to turn up.

 

The cog door rolled open, and Ianto looked up as his co-workers and boss walked in. there was well-hidden irritation rolling off Jack, and both Toshiko and Owen looked pissed off. Gwen was apologising, and from the exasperated roll of Toshiko’s eyes he got the idea she had been apologising non-stop since the incident.

“Ianto! What have you got for me?” Jack called up to him.

“Nothing yet, sir,” the Welshman replied. “Oh, but the book is on Gwen’s desk.”

He hid a satisfied smile as horror dawned on the woman’s face when she saw the thick manual sitting on her desk.

“Excellent,” Jack smirked, and delight flashed over Owen and Tosh’s faces. “Gwen, you won’t be on active field duty until you have that manual memorised. Don’t delay,” he added when the Welsh woman stared at him in horror. “Take it home, read it, memorise it, and Ianto here will quiz you when you're done.”

“Why Ianto?” Gwen demanded.

“Ianto knows the regulations forwards, backwards, inside out and upside down,” Jack replied. “Also… Ianto, how long have you been working for Torchwood?”

“Eight years, sir,” Ianto responded instantly, and shrugged at the surprised look he received from the others. He was much older than he looked, but they didn’t need to know that.

Jack just nodded.

“Ianto has eight years of experience and knows the rulebook better than anyone,” he told Gwen. “He's the best person to quiz you.”

An alert from Tosh’s computers ended the discussion.

* 

When the Torchwood SUV pulled up outside the club the call had come in from, Ianto hung back just a bit in order to talk to the local police and liaise a little. Jack had a habit of just barging in and upsetting the police who were just doing their jobs, ruffling feathers along the way. The least Ianto could do to make things easier for them was soothe those ruffled feathers.

“I apologise for the Captain’s rudeness,” Ianto said politely to the PC standing at the head of the stairs leading down to the club. “He is used to going unquestioned.”

“Yeah, I've noticed,” the man grumbled, but already Ianto could see he was relaxing and being placated by Ianto’s polite and calm demeanour. “So are you new? You weren’t with this lot last I saw them.”

“No, I just transferred from London six months ago,” Ianto half-lied. The constable nodded.

“Hey, Ianto,” Jack called, and both men at the top of the stairs turned to look down towards him. “We need you in here.”

“I'll be right down, sir,” Ianto assured him. Jack went back inside, and Ianto turned to give a rueful smile to the PC. “Sorry, duty calls. I'll try to get him to use a little more common courtesy.” The PC snorted.

“I won’t hold you to that. You'd better get in there.” Ianto nodded with a small chuckle and headed into the club.

 

“So this is all that’s left,” Toshiko murmured as the four of them (and one of the club bouncers) stared at the small pile of dull golden dust on the bathroom floor.

“Yeah,” the bouncer said faintly. “How is that possible?”

“The real question is, how do you know this used to be a body?” Jack asked. Ianto resisted the urge to snort in amusement as the bouncer dazedly explained he had been watching the CCTV footage when it happened. If Ianto was reading him right, the bouncer had probably been jerking off, not just watching the security feed.

“Bit of a shock, I tell you,” the man finished, still staring at the pile of dust.

“We need to see that CCTV,” Jack stated, and the bouncer nodded jerkily.

 

Ianto schooled his expression into a professional mask as the young man on the screen burst into bright gold dust and was absorbed almost entirely by the young woman he had been fucking against the bathroom sink. He'd never seen or heard anything like this before – it was definitely alien. He knew all terrestrial species which fed from sexual energy (being one himself), and none of them caused their food source to disintegrate into golden dust upon climax.

Succubi took their sustenance through the product of a human’s climax, while Ianto’s kind siphoned _errêve_ through physical contact (it just happened to be easier to harvest during sex). Incubi were darker than succubi in that they raped their victims and then fed on their _errêve_ via their blood until they died. Veela were energised whenever they had sex, but that was more of a mutual reaction to the act than actually _feeding_ from their partner (as Ianto had discovered first-hand a few centuries ago). There were other little-known creatures which fed off sexual energy, but none did so in such a manner as the unknown female on the CCTV footage.

“Whoa,” Owen blurted.

“My God. He just…”

“Came and went,” Ianto and Jack finished for Toshiko at the same time. The two blue-eyed men blinked and gave each other surprised glances at having said the same thing while Owen sniggered.

“Now that’s how I’d like to go,” he smirked.

“Surely we can arrange it,” Tosh retorted cheekily but with a straight face. Ianto bit his cheek to avoid grinning at the look on Owen’s face.

“That’s just…not possible,” the bouncer blurted, worry clear on his face. Ianto glanced at Jack once more, and the older-looking man clapped the bouncer on the shoulder.

“Thanks for your help, we've got all we need.” He guided the man out, and Toshiko grabbed the CCTV tape as Owen headed out. “Ianto, you know what needs to be done.”

“Of course, sir,” Ianto nodded. He had a cover-up to organise.

 

Ianto was standing by the SUV tapping away at his phone (it had a connection to the archives back at the Hub) when he saw Jack come out of the club, go into an alley to one side, and then rush back into the club. He'd clearly found something.

“He's got something,” Tosh murmured from where she was seated in the back of the SUV. Ianto glanced at her through the partially opened door. “Just wait. Any minute now he'll be back here with a lead.”

Sure enough, a couple of minutes later Jack was back up the stairs and striding over to the SUV purposefully. Tosh hastily shuffled across the backseat so Ianto could get in, while Owen took one look at Jack’s serious expression and cursed under his breath as he strapped himself into the passenger seat.

“So, did you find anything?” Tosh asked a little timidly as Jack pulled away from the curb.

“It's definitely the same energy that was at the crash site,” Jack replied. “Whatever it is, it took the girl as its host. We need to find it before it kills someone else.”

* 

Back at the Hub, Jack found he couldn’t take his eyes off Ianto as the rest of the team watched the CCTV tape of the alley. The Welshman was frowning, and if anyone asked Jack would swear he looked irritated. Not apathetic, not sad, and not angry, but irritated. Like he knew the alien and was annoyed at it. That couldn’t be right, though – back at the club, watching the CCTV of the bathroom, Ianto’s eyes had shown surprise, confusion and then anger. What had changed?

“Ianto, a word,” he half-ordered a few minutes later, and the Welshman nodded before following him up to his office without complaint.

“Sir?” Ianto prompted subtly when Jack just stood and stared at him for a long minute.

“What do you know?” Jack asked finally, voice a little abrupt.

“No more than you at this stage, sir,” Ianto replied honestly. Jack twitched minutely. “I may have a little more experience with similar entities, though,” he admitted, although he was reluctant to do so. He should have known that being in such a small team would make him stand out more. Damn it, how was he supposed to keep his secrets?

“When you were with London?” Jack frowned, although he relaxed a little.

“No, before that,” Ianto shook his head. He glanced out the clear glass wall of the office and then back at Jack. “If you separate it from its host and cut off its food source, it should die, right?”

“We _will_ talk about this later,” Jack warned, and Ianto sighed quietly as he nodded his agreement. He knew the human wouldn’t give up, but he would delay it as long as possible. Toshiko called for Jack from her computers. “Start organising the body dump, and make sure you have that cell ready when we get back.”

“Of course, sir.”

 

Jack slammed on the brakes to the SUV, rushing up the path towards the front door of Carys Fletcher’s residence as soon as he'd parked and turned off the engine. Tosh was right behind him, Owen rushing around to cover the back door. The two men kicked open the doors, guns trained on the bathrobe-clad girl straddling a delivery guy on the living room couch.

“What's going on?” the guy exclaimed.

“Put your trousers on and get out,” Jack demanded, not taking his eyes off Carys Fletcher. The delivery guy didn’t move. “Now!” The man scrambled up and fled past Owen. “It always breaks my heart to say those words.”

“Air quality’s okay,” Tosh rushed out. The three of them removed their gas masks, keeping an eye on the girl currently looking around like a scared deer. She made a break for it past Owen, but the thin doctor lashed out with one arm and grabbed her tight around the waist.

“Nice catch,” Jack approved, wrestling the girl’s arms behind her back despite her struggles and cuffing her. Tosh took over, escorting the girl upstairs to dress and then out to the SUV where Owen and Jack were waiting.

 

Thirty minutes later Carys was sitting curled up in a corner of one of the cells beneath the Hub, the entire team (with the exception of Gwen) watching her on the CCTV cameras.

“Owen, get a blood sample. See if there's anything we can do to separate her from the alien. Tosh, I want you searching our archives for anything like this. Ianto…”

“I'll go over the files from Torchwood One,” Ianto nodded. He knew what their fearless leader required of him. “Once I've made the coffee,” he added when Jack opened his mouth. Jack grinned at him.

“You're a godsend, Ianto Jones.”

“I do try, sir.”

Jack was off to his office with a swirl of his coat, off to contact old Archie up at Torchwood Two.

* 

“Tosh,” Ianto said suddenly a few hours later, making the tech whiz jump slightly. She whirled to look at the blue-eyed man in confusion. “If I get that thing out of Carys and kill it, can and will you wipe the CCTV so no one sees how I do it?” Tosh regarded him warily.

“How do you plan to do that?” she asked cautiously.

“I can’t say.”

“Will it hurt Carys?”

“No.”

“Does Jack know?”

“No. Please don’t tell him either.”

“I won’t, Ianto – you're my friend, and I trust you. I'll do it, but only if I can come with you down to the cells.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Now let's go before Jack and Owen get back.”

 

Down by the cells, the alien occupying Carys Fletcher’s body glared at Ianto, even as it pressed back against the opposite wall to get away from him. It feared him.

“Leave the girl, now,” Ianto ordered of the creature.

“You can’t make me,” the alien in a young woman’s body replied, sounding defensive. Ianto took a step closer to the glass front of the cell, his electric-blue eyes almost glowing as his facial expression darkened.

“You will leave this host, or I will destroy you,” he said icily, not in the mood for games or negotiation.

“You wouldn’t dare,” the alien growled. “If you destroy me, the female will just die with me,” it threatened. Ianto just took another step closer to the glass.

“Are you sure about that?” he asked in a deadly whisper.

“Ianto, if this will kill Carys then you can’t do it,” Toshiko protested, having been silent until this moment. Ianto cast a reassuring smile towards the young computer genius.

“It won’t hurt her, Tosh, I swear.” He looked back at the possessed girl. “Leave her, or I will destroy you.”

“Never,” came the hissed reply, and a grim smile flashed briefly across Ianto’s face, making the alien cower back against the wall.

“So be it.”

 

Tosh watched in fascination and mild horror as a pinkish-purple mist oozed out of the girl’s body, forming a hovering cloud of gas in the air around Ianto’s head height, leaving the girl slumped to the floor in unconsciousness. It tried to find an escape, but when it found itself to be completely trapped it made a dive towards its former host.

Ianto gave an honest-to-gods _snarl_ , and the cloud sort of writhed in mid-air, seemingly unable to reach the girl. Tosh hadn’t heard a human make a sound before like the one which had just escaped Ianto, and if she was being entirely honest with herself she would admit that it scared her a bit.

The gas stopped moving and collapsed in on itself, becoming a purple-tinged pile of grey dust on the floor of the concrete cell. Ianto relaxed where he stood beside her, a small satisfied smile playing over his lips briefly.

“Carys will be fine,” he murmured, and then glanced sidelong at Toshiko. Although his face was carefully neutral, Tosh could see slight fear and hesitation in his bright blue eyes. She smiled at him in reassurance.

“I'll delete the footage for you. If you're ever willing to tell me, I'll listen,” she added, and relief showed in Ianto’s eyes as a small smile filled with the same emotion formed on his face.

“Thank you, Tosh,” he said gratefully. She knew he was thanking her for more than just agreeing to delete the CCTV footage, and laughed as she looped an arm through his.

“Don’t thank me; just keep providing that amazing coffee of yours!”

 

Jack was not amused or impressed that Ianto and Tosh had gone down to see Carys without telling him. However, when a bubbly Tosh excitedly informed him that Ianto had managed to talk the entity into leaving Carys and that it had died as a result, he decided he could let it go just this once.

“How is she, Owen?” Jack asked the cynical doctor as he came up from his autopsy/medical bay to join them near Tosh’s desk.

“Her blood sugar levels are low, but apart from that she's fine. Should probably Retcon her, though,” he added.

“I was planning on it anyway.” Jack turned his attention back to Tosh and Ianto. “Next time the two of you decide to do something stupid, let me know in advance.” Tosh blushed, and Ianto had the grace to look at least slightly apologetic. Jack grinned, resisting the urge to laugh at his employees. “Go on home. I'll see you in the morning.”

“I have a few things to do first,” Ianto murmured, and with the exception of Jack the others left the Hub.

* 

Ianto finished cleaning the kitchenette and started to move back down to the main Hub, only to stop short when Jack blocked his way at the stairs. The two blue-eyed men stared at each other for what seemed like ages but in reality was only a few seconds. Then, as if he had received some sort of signal, Jack stepped up onto the same level as Ianto and pulled the disguised fae into a hungry kiss.

Having not expected it, Ianto was frozen for a fraction of a second. The surge of almost limitless _errêve_ he felt just from contact with Jack’s skin made him very nearly faint, sending every nerve in his body into a state of hypersensitivity. He brought himself back under control in the next fraction of a second and started kissing back, hands gripping firmly to the man in his personal space.

Jack was an _extremely_ talented kisser.

 

From where she had just walked into the Hub, intending to protest having to read the thick manual of Torchwood rules and regulations cover-to-cover, Gwen glared jealously at Ianto. Deep inside, something dark stirred.

 


	6. Echoes

A week later Ianto placed a small pile of papers on Gwen’s desk. The woman looked up at him in surprise, and Ianto just raised an eyebrow as he tapped the top sheet of paper.

“This is your quiz. You have the rest of the day to complete it,” he informed her neutrally. “You are not to reference the text I gave you. Questions?” Gwen opened her mouth to protest, but Jack glowered at her from over Ianto’s shoulder and shook his head in disapproval. Gwen snapped her mouth shut and clenched her jaw, shaking her head once in silence. Ianto nodded once briskly and walked off, pausing to deposit a smaller sheaf of paper on Tosh’s desk but then heading up to the kitchenette.

Taking a deep breath and then letting it out slowly to control her temper, Gwen turned her attention to the ‘quiz’ she had just been given. She _would_ finish this test and she _would_ do it right, and she would prove herself better than that uppity Ianto Jones!

 

“There, I'm done,” Gwen snapped, shoving the now-messy sheaf of paper into Ianto’s chest. His hands came up and secured the papers automatically, even as he turned hard blue eyes on her face.

“Field agent or no, I am still your senior and superior, Gwen Cooper,” he stated neutrally. “I will let Jack know the results as soon as I have evaluated your answers.” Gwen sneered and stalked off, leaving Ianto to frown after her. Something had to be done – especially with how patronising and pitying she was acting towards Toshiko. Her lack of respect for him was getting on his nerves too, but he wouldn’t mind so much as long as she backed off Tosh. The shy genius didn’t deserve to be treated the way Gwen was treating her.

He looked down at the top page of the messy stack Gwen had shoved at him, and felt like groaning.

She hadn’t answered a single question right on the first page.

 

Ianto was frowning as he climbed the stairs to Jack’s office, Gwen’s marked quiz in his hands. He knocked on the open door, and Jack’s head shot up from looking through a file on his cluttered desk.

“Ianto!” he greeted cheerfully, a hint of relief in his voice. Clearly he was getting sick of paperwork. “Is there a problem?” he asked belatedly, seeing the look on Ianto’s face. Ianto stepped inside and glanced quickly at the door. Jack caught on quickly. “Shut the door and take a seat.” Ianto did so. “So, what's the problem?”

“In one word: Gwen,” Ianto said simply. He passed over the woman’s paper quiz. Jack leafed through quickly, a frown forming as he scanned the first page and deepening with every page he flicked past. When he reached the end and saw the percentage Ianto had given, his face became carefully blank and he placed the papers down silently.

“Ianto, that quiz was based on the first four chapters.”

“I know.”

“Did she get anything right?”

“Three questions, all multiple choice.”

“Does she know how badly she fucked up?”

“I haven’t told her yet, sir, but I think not.” Jack rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Is it just the quiz?” Ianto hesitated to reply, and that was answer enough. “Tell me, Ianto.”

“She is rude to both Tosh and I, and refuses to acknowledge her rank.”

“Rude how?”

“She patronises Toshiko and looks at her with pity when she thinks no one is watching, and treats me as a glorified butler.”

“Sorry, Ianto – how she treats you is at least partially my fault,” Jack winced guiltily.

“I believe she would treat me as such anyway, sir. She sees me as a child.”

“How old are you, anyway?” Jack asked curiously, distracted. Ianto’s lips twitched as he suppressed a smile.

“Older than I look, sir. In any case, she acts as if I am a rookie and she my superior,” he added, getting the conversation back on track.

“Well that’s not right,” Jack frowned. Now that he thought about it, he'd noticed that Gwen had a habit of ordering Tosh and Owen around as well. “I think a talk is long overdue.”

“If you would, sir, it would be most appreciated,” Ianto replied with clear relief. Jack felt guilty again for how he'd introduced the Welshman to Gwen, and resolved silently to make it up to him.

“I'll tell her about her quiz and to read the manual, too,” he decided aloud. “There is no possible way for her to get so many questions wrong if she read it.” Ianto gave a small but true smile as he stood, and as he left the room Jack made a mental note to find a way to see that smile again.

 *

Gwen walked up the stairs to Jack’s office as calmly as she could, straightening her low-cut top and fluffing up her hair a little to make herself more appealing. She wanted Jack, and she would make him want her too. It shouldn’t be too hard, really.

She stepped confidently into the office, not noticing the disgusted looks Ianto and Tosh exchanged behind her back.

“Sit down, Gwen,” Jack ordered brusquely, and with a look of surprise on her face the woman did as instructed. Jack sat on the other side of his desk, his face extremely serious. “In the decades I've worked here, I've never seen a test like yours.”

 _‘This is it,’_ Gwen thought smugly, _‘he's impressed!’_

“Never have I seen someone fail a simple quiz so badly.”

‘ _Wait, what?!’_

“I can’t have failed!” she protested vehemently. Jack frowned at her.

“And why not?” Jack’s tone was cold, but Gwen didn’t notice.

“I bet Ianto just marked it wrong,” she began to rant.

“Stop,” Jack snapped, and Gwen’s jaw clicked shut in shock. “Ianto knows the rules and regulations of Torchwood better than anyone alive. He has a strict honour code and would never mark someone wrong on a simple paper test.” He leant back and eyed Gwen’s indignant expression. “He is also your senior and superior here, so you shouldn’t think or speak of him that way either.”

“But I'm your second in command!”

“Since when?” Jack demanded. “As far as I'm concerned you are a rookie field agent and nothing more. Owen is our medical officer and has been here three years. Toshiko is a genius with all forms of technology and has been here three years. Ianto was the head archivist at Torchwood London and his knowledge is vast and invaluable. He's been part of Torchwood for eight years and is more than capable of taking over for me if anything were to happen. You have been here for a _week_. If anyone was to be my second in command, it would be Ianto, not you.”

“You said I would have Suzie’s position,” Gwen pointed out stubbornly.

“As a field agent only! You have been here a _week_ and you do not have the knowledge Suzie collected over her time here. Now you will read the manual cover to cover, and when you are done you will take the quiz again. No arguments!” Jack barked out as Gwen made to open her mouth and protest. “When – and only when – both Ianto and I are satisfied with your knowledge I will consider letting you out in the field. Until such a time you will stay in the Hub during work hours. Am I clear?”

“Jack…”

“Am. I. Clear.”

“Yes,” Gwen ground out.

“Good. Go back to your desk.”

 

Gwen’s attitude didn’t change much, but her work ethic improved. She managed to answer her (third) quiz correctly for the most part. When Ianto trained her on gun safety and use, she did well for a beginner under his professional tutelage. Within the month, Jack was willing to allow her out into the field partnered with Owen or Toshiko, depending on the mission.

Ianto had slipped effortlessly into his new role as Jack’s 2IC, with only the increase of paperwork really changing his usual schedule. He also went out into the field more often, usually working with Jack. Said blue-eyed American hadn’t stopped flirting with Ianto in weeks, and had even managed to steal a few more kisses here and there from the Welshman. Ianto hadn’t slept with the man yet, unsure how their work relationship would change if he did. He probably wouldn’t be able to resist much longer though – Jack’s _errêve_ was very tempting and always _just_ out of his reach, even when the man kissed him. He was also rather attractive in more ways than just physically, which didn’t help Ianto’s restraint.

Six weeks after Gwen’s first day at Torchwood, Jack hustled everyone but Tosh out of the Hub to track down something alien which had fallen through the Rift.

* 

“Owen, Gwen, left into the alley, right, thirty metres,” Tosh stated clearly, her eyes darting between her CCTV images and the street map of Cardiff by which she was tracking the alien signal.

 _“What is it? What can you see?”_ Gwen asked as she and Owen ran.

“I can’t get a visual, just the signal, clearly alien in origin. Okay diagonal, right, towards the castle.” She looked from screen to screen, her mind quickly calculating the best move. “Jack, sharp right, twenty metres.”

_“Can you identify the target?”_

“Still trying to get a visual. Twenty seconds to contact.”

“Fifteen seconds.”

 _“No heroics, we've got no idea what we're dealing with,”_ Jack ordered.

“Ten seconds.”

Out on the streets, the Torchwood SUV screeched to a halt and Jack jumped out, leaving Ianto in the driver’s seat in case they needed to take off quickly. He quickly caught up with Gwen and Owen, all three of them running fast after their target.

 _“Got it!”_ Tosh exclaimed triumphantly. _“Suspect is male, wearing a hoodie. Go, Gwen!”_

Gwen rolled under a lowering security roller door after the human-looking target, pelting after him and not noticing how Jack and Owen were delayed by the same door.

Gwen grabbed the boy’s hoodie and held on tight, stumbling to a halt when he wrenched his way out of it and took off.

“Damn it!”

 _“You star, you did it!”_ Tosh squealed quietly.

“I was that close,” Gwen gasped, out of breath from the chase.

 _“No, you’ve got it,”_ Tosh assured her.

“I lost him, Tosh. I've lost him.”

Tosh rolled her eyes, sitting back in her chair a little.

“I swear, whatever it is, you're holding it.” On the CCTV, she saw Gwen look at the hoodie in her hand and then fumble in the pockets. “Just let me…” she trailed off in a mumble as she started typing rapidly, trying to figure out what the artefact could possibly be.

She never saw Gwen pull out a small device and press the big button on top.

* 

Back at the Hub, Jack leant over Tosh’s shoulder as she brought up the CCTV footage from the station where Gwen swore she had seen a ghost. Ianto was resisting the urge to bang his head against a wall, personally, but Jack took care of his team as best he could so they would need to show Gwen that nothing had actually happened.

“This is the feed from the station camera,” Tosh began. “Gwen grabs the kid, she's got his jacket, and he just slips right out.”

“You okay with this?” Jack called to Gwen from where she was watching the large projection screen with Owen. She nodded a couple of times.

“And then?” she asked. Jack wandered over to the device they had recovered.

“Jack and Owen arrive…and then nothing. Sorry,” Tosh shrugged. Ianto approached Tosh and passed her a cup of coffee, getting a shy but brilliant smile from the woman and a murmured thanks as Gwen babbled on about ‘feeling lost’ when she saw the child.

“Tense emotion can be part of a neurological event,” Owen offered with his usual snark. “Hallucinations…dementia.”

“I wasn’t hallucinating, Owen,” Gwen snapped. Ianto resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he approached Jack, who was turning the device over in his hands. “And I'm not bloody senile.”

“So you pushed this button,” Jack interrupted the forming argument, “and that caused this apparition moment?”

“Yeah,” Gwen replied mutedly. Jack made as if to press the button, and Ianto calmly swiped it out of his hands as the others protested hurriedly.

“As if,” Jack snickered, and Ianto passed the device back along with Jack’s coffee, lips twitching into a tiny smile.

“But that’s how it felt; _like_ an apparition,” Gwen insisted. “A ghost.”

“Toshiko, where do we start?” Jack asked, and Ianto passed a coffee to Gwen and then Owen before taking his own.

“The guy you were chasing; I've got lots of CCTV so tracking him down’s going to be easy,” Tosh informed them. “The little boy? You said there was a name on the card around his neck?”

“Flanagan, Tom Erasmus Flanagan,” Gwen recited.

“Unusual name, that'll help,” Jack mused. “Run a full check; births, marriages, deaths, criminal records, passports – however long it takes, wherever he is, we'll find him.”

“Found him,” Owen called. Everyone turned to look at the lazy, cynical doctor. “Flanagan, Thomas Erasmus,” he read out an address, snapped a book shut and held it up as he faced the others. “He's in the phone book.”

Ianto muffled an amused snort. Typical Owen.

 

“Sir,” Ianto began, causing Jack to look up from examining the little device on his desk.

“Ianto, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Jack?” the American asked with a sigh, and Ianto gave a small smirk as he walked over to stand by Jack’s desk.

“Fine, _Jack_.” Jack grinned. “Do you truly think finding the boy Gwen saw is important?”

“Not really,” Jack admitted, “But it could help in figuring out what this thing does.” Ianto frowned faintly.

“I'll look through the archives and see if anything similar has shown up before,” he decided aloud. “That should help.” Jack grinned at him, and Ianto couldn’t help but smile back – Jack’s grins were contagious. He turned to leave, but when he reached the door Jack called out to him again.

“Ianto.” The Welshman turned. “Before you do that, could you get some of those pastries? The ones you won’t tell us where you get?” Ianto laughed softly at the pleading look on Jack’s face.

“Of course, sir.”

 

“Our friend with the alien machine in his pocket is one Sean Harris, a.k.a. Burnie,” Jack stated as Ianto entered the room with a brown paper bag of sweet pastries and a tray of coffees in his other hand.

“And what he's doing with an alien machine is anyone’s guess,” Gwen muttered as she tacked a page to the ‘corkboard’ in the room. “Nineteen years old, string of convictions – burglary, shoplifting, credit cards.”

Jack grabbed a coffee and a pastry, flashing a smile at Ianto in thanks as he sat back in his chair.

“Theft conviction,” Tosh read aloud. “Was stealing tyres from a car when the owner turns up, gives him so much grief he apologises, and starts putting them back on which is when the police show up.” Ianto bit back a snort. “And here, shoplifting conviction; bottle of vodka and three-pop noodles.”

“Criminal mastermind,” Owen drawled, more interested in the alien shooting game he was playing. “Got anywhere with that mystery object?”

“Alien of course,” Jack stated around his mouthful of pastry. “Gorgeous nanotechnology – makes NASA look like Toys ‘R’ Us.”

“Well you’ve really narrowed things down haven’t ya?” Owen sniped.

“At the station it was doing this,” Gwen murmured as she picked up the device carefully. A few lights were flashing. “And when I held it, it lit up and went mad.”

“Well it's not doing it now, is it?” Owen again. Ianto had to wonder what had him in such a bad mood, but he didn’t care to ask.

“So, what next?” Tosh asked cheerfully enough. The girl was brilliant at defusing arguments between Gwen and Owen.

“This kid, Burnie, where does he live?” Jack asked.

“Splott,” Tosh read off a piece of paper with Burnie’s information on it.

“Splott?” Owen repeated incredulously. Ianto had to speak up.

“I believe estate agents pronounce it ‘Sploe’.” He almost laughed at the incredulous looks shot his way by the other four.

* 

“Burnie Harris, the scarlet pimpernel of Splott,” Gwen sighed as Owen and Ianto approached. Ianto had to agree with her.

“Tell me about it,” Tosh grumbled. “Give me aliens any day.” Owen dropped two white paper bags in front of the two women, each containing a pastie. Ianto had declined, so there was one extra. Ianto stayed standing to the side as Owen joined Tosh and Gwen kneeling around the stone cube. “Any luck?” Tosh asked Owen hopefully.

“No,” Owen declared. “I got four pasties for a pound,” he added as he removed his from its bag. “Anyone?” Ianto met Jack’s eyes as the greatcoat-clad man approached, and shook his head slightly.

“If I had wanted days like this I would have stayed in the police,” Gwen complained. Jack looked down at the trio in disbelief, and Ianto sighed quietly.

“We did try, Jack,” Tosh offered, looking rather downcast. Jack silently looked between them and ignored it when Owen offered a pastie, shaking his head and exhaling audibly before walking off. Ianto fell into step beside him, the other three scrambling to their feet and hurrying to catch up.

“What's he gonna tell us?” Owen asked. “Got it off an alien at the market?”

“Where are we going?” Gwen called.

“Back to the railway station,” Jack said tersely. Ianto frowned faintly at the man, feeling his unsettled state through the almost jerky ‘movements’ of his _errêve_. What had made him so unsettled? “Controlled experiment.”

“We recreate the original events as far as possible,” Ianto nodded in understanding.

“Observe and analyse the results,” Tosh exclaimed. “Of course!”

“You mean I have to do that again?” Gwen asked in horror. Ianto felt like rolling his eyes. There were so many worse ‘ghosts’ she could have seen, so she should be glad it was only a lost little boy and not someone being murdered.

“Someone does,” Jack replied. “Any volunteers?” He tossed the device at Owen, who caught it automatically. A chill went up Ianto’s spine. Something was going to happen…

“We don’t know what it is, what it does,” Gwen protested.

“Nope.”

“Jack, this could be dangerous,” Gwen persisted.

“Yeah.”

“I don’t mean to be picky, but I can spot some flaws in this plan,” Owen spoke up.

“Oh I'm sorry, I thought you were the guys who gave up looking for a nineteen-year-old kid this morning,” Jack snapped. Ianto frowned – what had happened to Jack to make him act this way? “I figured maybe you were after something more _exciting_. A bit of a _challenge._ ” Jack turned and started walking again, Tosh and Gwen hurrying to catch up while Ianto fell back a little to keep by Owen. Something was going to happen, and whatever it was wouldn’t be good.

Sure enough, the device in Owen’s hands started beeping and flashing, and Owen cast a wide-eyed look at Ianto, who placed a hand on his shoulder. The others kept walking, even as Owen called out to them, and Ianto tightened his grip on Owen’s shoulder.

“I'm right here,” he murmured, and extended his _errêve_ in an attempt to calm Owen. It didn’t usually work on humans, but it was worth a shot.

As Ianto half-expected it didn’t work, and Owen sucked in a sharp, shaky breath suddenly.

Ianto held tight to his shoulder as the doctor was sucked into a vision of sorts.

 

Owen came back to himself with a gasp and collapsed to his knees, the device falling out of his hands. Ianto followed him to the ground, ignoring the mud. He gripped both of Owen’s shoulders and met the man’s wide, shocked brown eyes. He dimly heard the others rushing back, but he was more worried about Owen at this stage. The man was his friend, despite the fact they argued frequently, and Ianto hated seeing friends like this.

“Owen, just breathe,” Ianto ordered as the doctor started hyperventilating. “Deep breaths, before you pass out.”

“She – she was so scared,” Owen gasped. “I couldn’t – I couldn’t move!” Ianto’s eyes widened and he glanced up at Jack, who was hovering worriedly. He'd sent the girls back to the SUV, knowing Owen wouldn’t want them to see him like this. “I couldn’t help her.”

Jack pocketed the fallen device and Ianto tugged Owen to his feet, wrapping an arm around his shoulders to pull him into a tight reassuring hug. He put the other hand on the back of Owen’s head as the doctor gave in and gripped tightly to the back of Ianto’s jacket. His entire body shook with his gasps and shocked tears, residual fear from the girl he'd seen making it even worse.

Jack watched Ianto comfort Owen and felt even worse for passing him the device in the first place.

* 

“The first time it happens to Gwen, a boy in the railway station,” Jack thought aloud, back in the office. Owen had calmed down considerably, but he was still rather shaken. Ianto was keeping close but being as casual as possible about it, keeping an eye on his friend’s emotional state. He absently listened to Gwen state Flanagan’s current location and state, but glanced at Owen just before the woman spoke again.

“Second time, happens to Owen.” Owen glanced at her from where he was sifting through the magazines by the couch. “I mean you didn’t just see it, you felt emotions that weren’t yours.”

“She was terrified,” Owen murmured, quieter and more subdued than usual.

Ianto briefly placed a hand on Owen’s shoulder when no one was watching, giving a squeeze of support, and went off to make a special coffee for the man as Toshiko read out the information she'd found on the girl Owen had seen.

He didn’t think it was a good idea to have Owen confront what he'd seen so soon, but unless Owen protested he couldn’t really say anything.

 

“Quantum transducer!” Ianto heard Jack announce as he came back with a coffee for Owen, pressing it into the doctor’s hands after taking away the file he was looking through. Owen glared half-heartedly, but Ianto just raised an eyebrow and the man gave in silently. It wasn’t like Owen, but he was still so shaken that Ianto didn’t think too much of it.

“I’d kill to get one of those!” Tosh exclaimed, sounding surprised and envious. “Transducers convert energy from one form into another,” she explained to Gwen’s blank look. “They're in headphones – they convert electrical signals into sound – and they're in this device too, converting quantum energy and amplifying it–”

“Into ghosts,” Gwen finished.

“Of course,” Jack gave a proud half-smile as he looked at Tosh. “It's emotion. Human emotion is energy. You can’t always see it or hear it, but you can feel it.” Ianto noticed Owen looking through the files again and frowned, but didn’t interrupt Jack’s explanation. “Ever had déjà vu? Felt someone walk over your grave? Ever felt someone behind you in an empty room?”

“It's because there was,” Ianto realised what Jack was saying. He already knew about it, of course.

“Exactly,” Jack agreed. “There always is.”

“A ghost,” Gwen murmured. Jack nodded.

 

“What else have we got on Lizzie Lewis?” Owen interrupted. “What else have we got?”

“Uh, 1963 the records aren’t always that detailed,” Tosh admitted as she moved back over to her computers.

“What about newspapers, witness statements, coroner’s reports?”

“Owen!” Jack snapped. Owen ignored him.

“What do you want me to find, exactly?” Tosh demanded.

“Well there must be something,” Owen persisted.

“For a case to be reopened you'd need new evidence or a new witness,” Jack interjected.

“I saw it happen,” Owen insisted.

“No you didn’t!” Jack snapped. “You weren’t there. You saw an echo of a moment amplified by alien technology. So you tell me how that'll play in court?”

“Since when do we care about courts?”

“Jack, Owen, that’s enough,” Ianto interrupted before the argument could get any worse. “Owen, Jack’s right – there's nothing you can do, and don’t even think of going to find Ed Morgan on your own,” he added at seeing the doctor’s belligerent expression.

“Go home,” Jack ordered. “Tomorrow we go find Burnie Harris, and we find out what he knows about this ghost machine. We do our job and find out where this thing came from.” Owen clenched his jaw but nodded, and Ianto gathered the files before the doctor could grab them and do research of his own. Owen glared at him but left with only his coat.

“You can go home too, Tosh, Gwen,” Ianto said calmly as Jack turned and stalked off. “Be back in the morning at the usual time.”

When they were gone, Ianto went searching for his boss to see if there was any way he could help him calm down.

 

He found Jack in the firing range, checking and loading one of his guns.

“Jack,” he murmured to catch the man’s attention, and Jack looked up at him. Ianto moved further into the room. “He's shaken by what he saw, but he'll be fine. I'll keep an eye on him,” he added, and saw tension seep out of Jack’s shoulders. He approached the human and gently tugged the gun from his hand, making sure the safety was on before he put it down on the table with the others. Jack was silent, but his eyes never left Ianto’s.

Ianto lifted his hands and placed one on each side of Jack’s face, a faint smile quirking his lips as Jack relaxed and his eyes closed. He pressed their foreheads together, and realised what it was making Jack so tense.

“It's not your fault, Jack,” he murmured. Jack froze. “You had no way of knowing what would happen in that tunnel. It is _not_ your fault.” Pulling back just a little, Ianto met Jack’s now-open eyes solemnly. “You are not guilty.”

Jack pulled Ianto into a desperate kiss.

* 

Ianto jerked awake at the sound of a mobile phone ringing, and felt around tiredly on the floor beside the bed for it. Jack grumbled sleepily and tucked his face into the back of Ianto’s neck, arms tightening around the Welshman’s waist. Ianto rolled his eyes as the echoing ringing woke him up properly, and finally found the phone. He answered it without realising it was Jack’s phone, not his.

“Hello?”

_“Ianto? What the hell are you doing answering Jack’s phone?”_

“Fuck,” Ianto muttered. “It doesn’t matter,” he added quickly. “What is it, Owen?”

 _“I found Burnie Harris.”_ Ianto sat up quickly.

“What? How? And where are you?” He turned and shook Jack’s shoulder. “Jack, get up, Owen found Burnie.”

 _“I didn’t need to hear that,”_ Owen grumbled, and Ianto cursed again even as he put the phone on speaker. _“I was walking near the bridge and saw him in a park. Chased him, caught him, and we're headed to the closest pub to the river. You'll find it.”_

“Right, good work, Owen. We'll be there soon,” Jack declared, and Owen hung up. Ianto groaned and buried his face in his hands.

“I'll never be able to meet his eyes again,” he muttered, and Jack laughed as he slipped from the bed and stretched. Ianto couldn’t help but eye the man’s attractive, leanly muscled, naked body appreciatively. Jack smirked. “Your ego is big enough as it is,” Ianto informed the American as he also stood. “I'm not saying anything.” Jack laughed again and strolled casually to his bathroom, leaving Ianto to wonder if he could get away with shadow-travelling to his locker to get a change of clothes.

 

Owen was seated opposite Burnie Harris in one of Splott’s numerous pubs when Jack, Ianto, Gwen and Toshiko arrived.

“Well, this is cosy,” Jack drawled as he sauntered up to them. “Hope he brought you flowers.”

“Look, if this is about those dodgy fags, I don’t know what happened to them, alright,” Burnie panicked. Ianto bit back a snort and passed the alien device to Jack, who placed it on the table between Owen and Burnie. Tosh and Gwen watched on in silence as Jack took a seat.

“Well, it's worth knowing we're probably the only people you can tell.”

Ianto stood silently between Gwen and Owen, as Tosh stood opposite him leaning against the bar. Burnie looked between them, then wet his lips nervously and leant in a little so as not to be overheard.

“Me and a mate was using this lockup down on Moira Street. Used to belong to this old guy…soft in the head he was.” Jack leant back a little in his chair, a slightly smug twist to his half-smirk. “Still loads of his stuff in there but we chucked most of it. There was this…old biscuit tin full of foreign coins and weird bits of rock, and _that._ Thought it might be worth something. Thought I might take down to the Antiques Roadshow.”

Owen scoffed a little, taking a mouthful of his beer. Ianto silently and absently wondered why a pub sold alcohol so early in the day.

“Well you dunno, do you? Finding it an old attic like that,” Burnie defended himself. “Well, I takes the tin home with me, and that thing starts switching itself on. It makes you see things,” he lowered his voice a little, “ _Real_ things. Real people. I was down the old wharf in the bay – I seen this woman with a bundle, something wrapped up. It was night time. She was putting it into the water all secret.” Child abandonment, Ianto thought grimly. He hated how humans felt the need to get rid of unwanted children instead of caring for them anyway. “It was weird, ‘cause it was like, like I was _her_ somehow. Scared – she knew what she was doing was wrong. I knew, without seeing – it was _her_ baby. Wrapped up…dead.” Ianto felt a twinge of guilt at having thought badly of the woman at first, but he had seen it far too many times in his lifetime and the guilt was fleeting. “She hadn’t told anyone. And she just ran away. And I realised, I knew her. She's old now, but she lives up by the old Catholic church in Splott. So I go up to see her, tell her I knew…she gave me money not to tell anyone else.”

“You blackmailed her?” Owen’s disgust clearly showed on his face.

“She offered,” Burnie insisted. Ianto saw Tosh shake her head in disgust, and Jack’s disapproving frown. “Look, I've seen things you wouldn’t believe. There's the old bridge–”

“We know,” Ianto interrupted quietly, his tone cold. Owen didn’t need to be reminded. Burnie froze. “We've been there, one of us saw it.”

“I saw it,” Owen muttered, and glanced at Jack. “He doesn’t know anything, does he?” Jack picked up the device and turned to leave.

“No. Nice meeting you, Burnie.” Ianto waited for the others to move, then went to follow.

“Hang on, you can’t just walk off with that, that’s mine,” Burnie protested. “I got rights.” The others continued walking, ignoring him. “So you don’t want the other half then?” Ianto turned quickly, before the others halted and turned at hearing the same.

“You will give us the other half,” Ianto growled quietly, allowing his eyes to almost glow in order to intimidate the nineteen-year-old. Burnie gulped and nodded rapidly, and Ianto smirked faintly before resuming his blank mask. “Good.”

* 

Jack examined the device Burnie had handed to him.

“The other half,” he acknowledged, passing it to Toshiko (who was holding the first half they'd retrieved).

“Weird bits of rock, foreign money,” Gwen repeated Burnie’s words from the bar, sifting through the biscuit tin he'd told them about. Jack took a glance.

“Alien rock, alien money,” Jack informed them. “Driftwood, coming in through the Rift.”

“So, Burnie, was this in two halfs when you found it?” Ianto asked from where he was leaning against the doorway beside Tosh. A soft click sounded as the two pieces slotted together in her hands.

“I got it!” Tosh sounded surprised and pleased. “It's like putting Lego together.” Jack crossed the small room and took it from the woman’s hands.

“You split it into two pieces, didn’t you?” Gwen accused the youth, who had a ‘deer-in-the-headlights’ sort of look about him. Ianto took the device when Jack passed it to him, and put it in a small bag he'd brought along just for this purpose. Tosh collected the biscuit tin and peeked around Gwen at Burnie.

“We'll take these too if you don’t mind,” she smiled briefly, and headed outside before he could protest. Owen followed, hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face as the two of them went to the SUV.

“Are you going to arrest me?” Burnie asked fearfully.

“No, we're not the police,” Jack smirked at him.

“But I robbed that,” Burnie gestured to the bag Ianto held.

“I know.” Jack turned to head for the door, Gwen following like a lost puppy.

“You gonna rob it back off me?” Jack turned at the door and stepped aside to let Gwen past, glancing briefly out the window to the street.

“So call the cops,” Jack told the youth.

Ianto and Jack left, ignoring Burnie’s call for them to come back.

Ianto still heard what the youth said though – he'd used the other half of the device, and he'd seen himself die. He would come back later and check on the lad.

* 

“Owen,” Tosh called to the doctor, who looked over from where he was playing solitaire on his computer.

“What?”

“I found Ed Morgan.” Owen was up out of his seat and over to the woman in a second, and Ianto moved closer silently to eavesdrop.

“What did you find?”

“His medical records,” Tosh sighed, looking at something on one of her screens. She didn’t make any attempt to keep her voice down.

“Yeah?”

“He's agoraphobic, paranoid, depressive, and there are a couple of recorded attempts at suicide. He hasn’t left his house in years. Owen, what he did…he's already being punished and punishing himself for it. Next time he tries suicide, he might succeed.” Owen frowned, and Ianto moved closer, making sure they heard his approach.

“Let it go, Owen,” he advised quietly. “The rate the man smokes he'll be dead within a year anyway.”

“How do you know he smokes?” Tosh asked in surprise.

“I have an eidetic memory,” Ianto replied with a faint quirk to his lips. “I read his information briefly last night. Go home, rest, and come back in the morning.” His gaze flicked from Owen to Tosh. “You too, Tosh. Gwen already left,” he added when she opened her mouth. “It's almost 9pm. Go home.”

“Can’t believe I'm taking orders from the tea-boy,” Owen grouched, but nodded civilly to Ianto as he grabbed his coat and left. Tosh giggled quietly and followed his example, calling a goodnight up to Jack on her way out.

Ianto turned to look up at his boss and recent lover, a smile curving the corner of his mouth at the heated look sent his way.

“I have something to check on this evening,” he said calmly. “I'll be back in the morning.”

“What if I wanted you to come back here?” Jack asked, and Ianto blinked in surprise. He hadn’t expected that, but…

“Then I will be back in an hour or so,” he replied smoothly, and was rewarded by a blinding grin from Jack.

Yeah, he would be back once he'd seen Burnie.

* 

Ianto knocked lightly on the front door to Burnie’s apartment, and the door cracked open just enough for him to be seen. The visible eye widened, and Ianto gave a small, reassuring smile.

“I'm just here to talk, Burnie,” he said soothingly. “May I come in?” Burnie hesitated, but then Ianto saw him nod and the door opened further. Ianto stepped inside. “Thank you.” He politely ignored how Burnie fumbled to lock the door behind him, instead taking a seat at the table calmly. Burnie hesitantly took a seat opposite him, looking wary – probably because of Ianto’s ‘glowing eyes’ trick earlier. “You said you saw yourself die,” Ianto started bluntly. Burnie jolted and then nodded. “What happened?”

“It was…it was out on the road. I was just…lying there, bleeding, and then I died. I wasn’t old or anything – I looked like I do now.” Fear was obvious in the boy’s voice. Ianto nodded slowly, thinking.

“Burnie…Sean. That was only one possible future. If you used the device now, you would likely see something different. The future changes every minute that passes.”

“How can you know?” Burnie asked desperately, tear leaking down his face. Ianto gave a sad smile.

“When I was younger, I was told by a reliable source that I would die with my parents,” he revealed quietly. “Instead, I survived due to a choice a good friend of mine made. The future isn’t set in stone.” It was at times like this, when he felt the need to reassure someone, that he felt so much older than he looked and acted it. If it would reassure this scared child, he would let himself show some maturity.

Burnie looked desperate to believe him, and Ianto resisted the urge to sigh at his continued fear and disbelief.

“Sean. Was it night or day in the vision?”

“Night,” Burnie croaked.

“Then avoid being on that road at night. Don’t let your fear rule you.” He laced his words with a hint of his power, and saw Burnie relax. He stood, pulled a business card from his pocket, and placed it on the table in front of the youth. “If you think the vision is about to come true, give me a call.” Burnie nodded, looking a little dazed, and Ianto let himself out, using his shadow travel to go back and lock the door once he was gone.

Then he returned to his apartment for a change of clothes, and went back to the Hub.

 

The next morning Ianto was tidying Jack’s desk when he saw the Ghost Machine (as he had privately dubbed the device) sitting on a stack of papers.

“Jack,” he called, and the man’s head popped up out of the manhole leading down to his bunker. “What do you want me to do with this?” Jack blinked a few times and then frowned.

“Secure archives,” he decided, and Ianto nodded. “It's not meant for us.”

“I know,” Ianto murmured. He knew all too well what knowing the future did to people. It wasn’t worth the pain it brought.


	7. Aes Sídhe

The weather was getting weird. It was all over the place, and Ianto could feel some sort of magic behind it. It wasn’t human magic, though, and it took a good three weeks for him to realise just what it was.

_Aes sídhe._

They tended to stay away from Wales, due to Cymru being the traditional home of the tylwyth teg, but their energy was unmistakeable once Ianto realised what he was sensing. The _aes sídhe_ adored children (they were practically children themselves) and often slipped out of their out-of-time realm in order to play with or protect human children. Every now and then they would take a child who would become one of them, but it was usually for the betterment of the Chosen. Sometimes, they would hang around and take revenge against those who harmed children or their Chosen, and it seemed like that was the case this time.

Ianto could only hope that his teammates wouldn’t notice the odd weather patterns, or that they would leave it be. If his co-workers (and yes, his friends, with the exception of Gwen) went after the _aes sídhe,_ he didn’t think there was anything he could do to help short of revealing himself – and that was something he really wasn’t ready to do.

 

Ianto took to roaming the old Roundstone Wood at night. He knew that was where the _aes sídhe_ would show, as it had been left completely untouched by humans for longer than he had been alive. If he was to find them, it would be where they had the strongest connection to the physical world.

One night, he got lucky, and came across them in a circle of stones. He was in his natural form, and as soon as he stepped out of the shadows they came to a complete standstill.

 _“L'næra,”_ they whispered in their collective voice, their awe and fear extremely obvious to the warrior.

“Why are you here?” Ianto asked gently, taking a seat. In an instant the unattractive creatures turned into little balls of light and started hovering and darting around him.

 _“We come for our Chosen,”_ they replied. _“She is ours.”_

“Who is she?”

_“We do not know her name.”_

“Why are you waiting so long to take her?”

_“She is not ready to leave.”_

“When she is ready, what will you do if the humans try to stop her?”

 _“We will stop their hearts.”_ Ianto frowned, but he knew that it was just their way.

“If I ask, will you spare a few? They mean only well.”

 _“As long as they do not harm her,”_ the _aes sídhe_ conceded. Ianto knew that was the best he would get from them. Although he was older and more powerful, they were only children mentally. He would only ever receive a compromise for all they were descended from his kind.

Ianto felt the _errêve_ of an elderly human approach – female, judging by the gentle feel to the energy – and the dancing _aes sídhe_ took flight, taking on the forms of little flitting butterfly-winged humanoids which glowed gently. Ianto stayed seated, turning his back towards where the elderly woman was approaching, and applied an illusion which gave him gossamer-fine wings like those of the _aes sídhe_ around him. He stayed seated, though, and ignored the soft gasp from the woman behind him. He heard the clicking of a camera, and then felt rather than saw the woman leave.

When she was gone, the _aes sídhe_ took on their natural forms and Ianto allowed his illusions to drop.

“Don’t harm her,” he murmured, looking in the direction the elderly woman had left. “She means no ill.”

 _“We will leave her be,”_ the _aes sídhe_ sighed, and Ianto nodded as he stood. He slipped into the shadows once more, and disappeared back to his apartment.

He had done all he could for the moment.

 *

Ianto arrived at the Hub at his usual time, or at least his usual time when he didn’t stay the night with Jack, only to find Jack in his office by the desk. He was holding a red rose petal and staring at it with a look of recognition and fear etched on his features. Ianto’s heart clenched – Jack had encountered the _aes sídhe_ before, and here he was just back from making a deal with them.

He pushed aside the slight guilt and carefully approached the man to reach over his shoulder and pluck the petal from his fingers. Jack jolted slightly, but leant back into him when Ianto wrapped his arms around his waist from behind and placed his chin on Jack’s shoulder.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Jack murmured, and Ianto squeezed lightly.

“Neither should you,” he scolded gently. Jack snorted.

“I live here.”

“I know,” Ianto chuckled, and released the now-calm human. Jack turned and grinned, but it didn’t reach his eyes like his true smiles did.

“Why are you here so early?” Jack asked, and Ianto swore in his head even as his facial expression didn’t change.

“Funny sort of weather patterns,” he admitted, stepping out of Jack’s office and over to the computer he'd been using to track the _aes sídhe_. Jack looked at the program, and again Ianto saw fear in his eyes.

He wished there was something he could say to reassure Jack, but he couldn’t unless he wanted to admit how he knew. He wasn’t ready for Jack to know.

* 

“What, exactly, are we doing here, sir?” Ianto asked as he strode along the sidewalk beside Jack. The man had recovered from his fear earlier that morning, and had asked Ianto to accompany him somewhere after he sent Owen and Gwen out to retrieve a piece of alien technology from one of their contacts.

“I've received an invitation from an old friend,” Jack grinned. “And you know I prefer it when you call me Jack.”

“I recall some instances where it's the opposite, _sir_ ,” Ianto murmured cheekily, and Jack laughed.

“Time and place, Yan,” he winked, and then gestured to a door. “Here we go.” Ianto didn’t even glance at the signs as he followed Jack inside, but when he saw the lecturer he knew he probably should have.

It was the little old woman from the woods.

 

“I suppose I'm one of the fortunate few who's been allowed to see our little friends,” the woman was saying as Ianto and Jack slipped into the mostly-empty little lecture hall. There was a childlike innocence about the elderly woman which immediately clued Ianto in as to why the _aes sídhe_ let her see them (if only in their illusionary forms). Her eyes lit up when she saw Jack, and she smiled as she continued.

“And it's been no easy task. One needs to have the patience of a saint, and the blind faith of a prophet. But for me the long wait has been worthwhile.”

She clicked to change the slide, and Ianto’s eyes widened when he saw that it was one of the photographs she had taken the other night – when he had been sitting amongst the dancing _aes sídhe_.

“This is my first picture,” the woman smiled, moving closer to point out a few details. “It's not very clear, I know, but the ring of stones can be seen quite distinctly. And the fairy prince in the centre – I have never come across one like him before, but with his wings and the light around him, there is no doubt in my mind that he is one of these wonderful creatures.”

She changed the slide again, and this photo showed a close-up of one of the _aes sídhe_ alighting on Ianto’s shoulder, one small hand touching one of his long pointed ears. Ianto recalled that moment, and wondered why he hadn’t just left when he'd sensed her coming.

“Now I'm not the world’s best photographer, but this little person is just about visible on the fairy prince’s shoulder.”

Ianto was glad none of his family was around to hear this little old woman refer to him as a ‘fairy prince’.

 

When the people who had come to listen to the woman were leaving, Jack shook his head.

“Wrong,” he muttered. “She always gets it wrong.” Ianto had to agree, but he didn’t entirely agree with what he thought Jack might think of them.

Flicking through the slides, Jack frowned at a couple of them before glancing at the woman he had introduced to Ianto as Estelle.

“When did you take these pictures?”

“A couple of nights ago,” Estelle smiled.

“Where?”

“In Roundstone Wood.”

“Not far from here,” Ianto thought aloud. Estelle smiled again and turned to look up at Jack.

“It's so good to see you again, Jack.” Jack smiled back down at her, but Ianto could see the worry in his eyes when he looked back up at the photographs on the slide. He would tell Jack not to worry for Estelle’s safety, but he couldn’t exactly tell him that he had extracted a promise from the _aes sídhe_ to leave Estelle alone.

Estelle passed him a photo, and Jack huffed out a sigh as he looked from the picture to the slide.

“What's wrong?” Ianto couldn’t help but ask.

“Oh, Jack and I have always disagreed about fairies,” Estelle said a little dismissively. “I only see the good ones, and he only ever sees the bad ones.”

“They're all bad,” Jack corrected, but there was a hint of fond teasing in his tone. Clearly he knew and liked this woman.

“No, I refuse to believe that,” Estelle half-laughed. Ianto put forward his own opinion.

“It depends on a person’s view of good and evil,” he suggested. “One person’s good could be another person’s evil, and vice versa.”

“That’s what his father used to say,” Estelle said nostalgically, and Ianto saw something he hadn’t expected in Jack’s face and eyes.

Sorrow, guilt, love and regret.

It passed quickly, but when Ianto met Estelle’s gaze he realised she had seen it too and knew Ianto had also seen it.

“Oh, Jack, if only you had _seen_ them there in the wood! They were happy, they were dancing, the fairy lights were shining…” Childlike wonder had crept into Estelle’s voice, and Ianto could see the affection when Jack looked down at the petite woman.

“Do you have any more photos?” he asked, and Estelle smiled fondly as she tsked.

“Yes, at home.”

“I need to see them all.”

 

Ianto found himself sitting on Estelle’s couch with her cat Moses on his lap, absently stroking the creature while Jack leafed through the photos and sketches Estelle had of Roundstone Wood. As soon as Ianto had arrived the cat had been twining around his ankles and purring up a storm, and Estelle had urged him to take a seat after he'd almost tripped over the animal three times.

Jack was hiding his smirk in the papers he was looking through, but Ianto knew he was amused and scowled at him even as he kept petting Moses’ ears.

“Ianto, dear, would you mind taking Moses outside?” Estelle asked, and Ianto gave her a warm smile.

“Of course not, Ma'am,” he said politely, and the woman giggled.

“Just call me Estelle, dear. Follow me,” she added, and tottered off towards the door leading into her wonderful, wild, flowery garden.

Ianto followed without protest, Moses purring in his arms. He had cat fur all over his suit, but he didn’t care. Animals loved him, and he had grown resigned to getting fur on him, or feathers, or scales.

“Jack thinks he has me fooled, but not much gets past this old woman,” Estelle chuckled as she took Moses from Ianto and chivvied him into the garden. “We met during the war,” she told Ianto, who blinked in surprise. “We dropped out of touch afterwards, and a few years ago he contacted me pretending to be his own son.”

Somehow, Ianto realised he wasn’t entirely surprised by this revelation. Someone with as much _errêve_ as Jack held would live a hell of a lot longer than a normal human, and barely age a day.

“You knew something was different about him, didn’t you?” Estelle asked perceptively, and Ianto smiled at her as he nodded. “And does he know about you?” His smile froze and his eyes widened. Estelle giggled. “The only being I've encountered who feels how you do is the fairy prince of my photographs, dear.”

“I'm not one of the _aes sídhe,_ Estelle,” Ianto admitted. “They were the ones you saw the other night, and I was finding out what they're after when you came across us. They won’t do you any harm – I made sure of it. They do hurt those who they feel deserve it, though.”

For some reason, he knew he could trust Estelle. It was similar to how he felt about Tosh – both women were trustworthy, but there was something which prevented Ianto from telling Tosh what he was willing to tell Estelle.

“I'm the last of my kind. Humans tend to call me a fae.” Estelle’s smile was brilliant, and she winked conspiratorially as Jack called for them from the house.

“Your secret is safe with me, Fae Prince.” Ianto’s cheeks flushed at the title. How this woman managed to make him feel like a child, he didn’t know.

“I'm not a prince,” he muttered, and followed her back to the house.

* 

“How often do you meet with her?” Ianto asked softly as they walked away from Estelle’s house. He would go visit the woman without Jack another time, but he wanted to know how often he saw his former lover.

“Now and again,” Jack replied, a bit subdued. Ianto glanced at him and wished they weren’t in public. He felt a strong urge to comfort his boss and friend, but in public they would just make a scene which would be better avoided.

“Whenever she sees fairies?” he asked lightly, trying to lighten the mood. It didn’t work too well.

“She calls them fairies, I don’t.”

“Oh? And what do you call them, then?” Ianto was honestly curious.

“I don’t think they’ve ever really had a proper name.” _Wrong,_ Ianto thought to himself. He waited patiently for Jack to air his opinion, though. “Something from the dawn of time – how can you possibly give it a name?”

“I don’t think they’ve been around quite so long,” Ianto couldn’t resist murmuring. “The dawn of Earth, perhaps?” Jack gave him an unimpressed look, and Ianto hid a grin as he mimed zipping his lips. Well, he'd _tried_ to lighten Jack’s mood at least. It hadn’t seemed to work, unfortunately.

“Think dangerous. Think something you can only half-see, something you can only glimpse from the corner of your eye. A touch of myth, a touch of the spirit world, a touch of reality all jumbled together.” Ianto was entranced by Jack’s description, having never thought of any sort of fey that way. “Old moments and memories that are frozen in amongst it – like debris spinning around a ringed planet, tossing, turning, whirling…backwards and forwards through time.”

Ianto was absolutely certain he'd never been quite so turned on in his life. He glanced around, then dragged Jack by his coat down the gap between two houses and kissed him fiercely.

When they separated, both men were panting.

“What brought that on?” Jack gasped. “Not that I'm complaining.”

“You're bloody hot when you get so worked up about something,” Ianto muttered, still gripping Jack’s lapels with his forehead pressed to the human’s shoulder. Jack gave a small, slightly breathless laugh, and Ianto smirked where he couldn’t see it. At least he'd managed to get him to relax a little.

“Come on. If this is them, we need to find them before all hell breaks loose,” Jack said after a minute, and Ianto stepped back so they could straighten themselves out and continue on their way.

* 

“This is the youngest girl,” Tosh pointed to one of the photographs, “and the girl’s cousin.”

“I blame it on magic mushrooms,” Ianto commented. Owen snorted.

“What you do in private is none of our business,” Jack replied dryly as Ianto passed around mugs of coffee. He smirked up at Ianto, who rolled his eyes a little and gave a small smile in return.

“But these photographs were faked,” Gwen objected.

“Conan Doyle believed in them,” Owen pointed out.

“He was gaga at the time.”

“And Houdini?”

“Self-publicist.” Gwen was sitting heavy on the denial.

“How do you know so much about it?” Jack asked.

“Because I wrote an essay on the Cottingley glass photographs when I was at school,” Gwen replied. Owen snickered into his coffee. “And when the girls were old ladies they admitted they were fakes.”

Now, Ianto had met the girls, and they had only said the photographs were fakes because they had been pressured into it by their families.

“So where was this sighting, then?” Tosh asked, changing the image on the screen.

“In a place called Roundstone Wood,” Jack replied shortly.

“Oh, I've heard of it. Odd history,” Owen spoke up.

“What do you mean ‘odd’?”

“It's always stayed wild,” Ianto replied in place of Owen. “Even the ancient Romans when they passed through didn’t dare get rid of it or go through it.”

“It was considered bad luck to walk in it, even to collect timber,” Owen added.

“I've had no report of any sighting,” Tosh stated, turning the conversation back on topic.

“You won’t,” Jack informed them, leaning back in his chair. “These things come in under the radar, but they play tricks with the weather so set up a program for unnatural weather patterns.” Tosh looked a little sceptical.

“Right,” she said anyway.

“Are you saying our machines can’t pick them up?” Gwen asked.

“No,” Jack admitted. “They can’t.”

 

A couple of hours later, Ianto was walking through Roundstone Wood with Owen and Jack when he heard it. Or rather, he heard _them_. The aes sídhe were following them, and although Ianto couldn’t sense any malice in them, he did sense a strong dislike for one of the humans he was currently with. He wasn’t sure whether it was Owen or Jack, and decided to keep an eye on both.

“The stones from the photographs,” Jack stated a little unnecessarily as they came across the ring of stones.

“You know this whole area used to be forest in primeval times,” Owen commented. Ianto hadn’t realised Owen knew so much trivia. “Most of the development areas have been built on ley lines.” Now that was something Ianto had most definitely not expected a human to know.

Owen and Jack meandered about, searching with various devices, and Ianto waited for them to be completely distracted before he stepped behind a tree and shed his human disguise. In an instant, one of the _aes sídhe_ was hovering in front of him in its smaller form.

“Don’t harm these two humans, or Estelle. Don’t harm the Japanese woman who smells of lightning and metal, and don’t harm the woman with the darkness or her mate. They are under my protection, and unless they harm one of you or your Chosen they will stay that way,” he said quietly, and with a pout the little fey creature nodded. Ianto resumed his human disguise and joined the other two.

* 

“I thought I’d seen everything, up until now,” a policeman said to Jack as he led the immortal through the station to the cells. “We had him locked up, for Christ’s sake, on his own. And he was shouting out when he was brought in, said things were following him.” Jack saw Gwen and Tosh exchange glances from the corner of his eye, but kept his focus on the officer.

“What sort of things?” he asked.

“Shadows, he said, and he was going on about being choked.”

“And there were four other prisoners and they saw nothing?” Tosh half-asked, half-stated.

“Where are they now?” Gwen asked, but Tosh replied to Jack instead of her.

“They’ve been transferred.”

“CCTV?” Jack asked.

“I'm dealing with that,” Tosh assured him. Gwen glowered a little at being ignored, but a warning look from Jack stopped her from speaking.

“At first I thought he was a drunk or a nutcase or both,” the police officer continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted, leading Jack and the two women down towards the cell. Jack frowned. If it was what he thought, then they needed to get everyone out of the area.

“Right, I want this place locked off.”

 

“Name?” Jack asked as the cell was opened.

“Mark Goodson, worked in town, business consultant,” Tosh reeled off, not letting Jack or Gwen know that Ianto was reciting the information into her earpiece for her.

“Cause of death?”

“Well, going by the pinpoint haemorrhages on the eyelids and around the hairline, I’d say oxygen deficiency,” Tosh stated from her crouched position beside the victim, glancing up at Jack. He nodded. “But it's odd. There's no fingertip bruising on the face, no areas of power.” Gwen looked bewildered, but Jack just looked grim. Tosh got the feeling he knew more than he was letting on, but that wasn’t unusual when it came to Jack.

“So he suffocated alone in a locked cell?” Gwen asked, crouching where Tosh had been moments before. Tosh wanted to roll her eyes. She had just said that, hadn’t she?

“Looks like it,” she said coolly instead of snapping. Gwen bent down a little closer, and then used one hand to open the man’s mouth a little.

“Wait a minute,” she muttered, then leant back and pulled some tweezers from the kit behind her. Jack and Tosh exchanged glances, and watched as Gwen carefully pulled something from the back of Mark Goodman’s mouth.

It was a red rose petal.

Gwen set it aside and removed another. Out of the corner of her eye Tosh saw Jack’s face grow darker, something like fear forming but being hidden quickly. Tosh left Gwen removing petals from Goodman’s throat and urged Jack out of the cell.

“Jack, I can take it from here,” she said softly. “Go calm down somewhere.” Jack shook his head, and Tosh planted her hands on her hips to glare up at him. “You're not alright with this, Jack, and I'm not above calling Ianto to come and get you,” she threatened. Jack laughed quietly, and Tosh was relieved. She didn’t like seeing Jack that way – it scared her and made her worry. “Go back to the Hub, Jack, please,” she added softly. Jack met her eyes, then nodded slowly. She smiled in relief. “Thank you,” she whispered, and Jack placed a hand on her shoulder briefly.

“No, Tosh, thank you,” he murmured, and turned to leave.

 

“I've never seen anything like this before,” Tosh said when she saw the small pile of rose petals Gwen had removed from Mark Goodman’s mouth and throat.

 _“I have,”_ Jack muttered through their communicators. Tosh frowned faintly, and then decided to ask later. She set about organising what had to be done, ignoring Gwen’s police-training-influenced suggestions as politely as possible.

* 

Back at the Hub, watching the footage Tosh had liberated from the police showing Mark Goodman’s death, Ianto was feeling restless.

“You know the dead man was a convicted paedophile,” Jack said grimly. “Used to hang around schools.”

“But why the petals in his mouth?” Gwen asked.

“Just a bit of fun on their part,” Jack scowled. Ianto wouldn’t and couldn’t really dispute that – the _aes sídhe_ were children, and children were cruel.

“You call that fun?” Gwen scoffed.

“That’s the way these creatures like to do things. They play games, they torment and they kill.”

“Why?”

“For a punishment, for a warning to others.” _Not quite,_ Ianto thought. Punishment, yes, warning, not so much. “They protect their own, the Chosen ones.” Jack frowned down at nothing in particular. “Somehow children and the spirit world go together.”

“So… how do we stop them?” Tosh asked cautiously.

“First we have to find out who they want. We can’t trap them – they have control of the elements. Fire, water, the air that we breathe; they can drag the air right out of our bodies–” Jack was cut off as the phone rang loudly. He stood and grabbed it up, answering immediately. “Yeah.” Ianto could hear the person on the other end clearly.

 _“Jack, it's me, Estelle.”_ Ianto’s blood ran cold as he heard something in the background no human would be able to – the flutter of wings and malicious childlike laughter.

“What is it?” Jack asked, and there was concern in his tone. Ianto silently stepped back into the shadows, prepared to disappear to Estelle’s if need be. He saw Tosh notice, but shook his head slightly to warn her not to say anything.

 _“You were right, Jack, there are bad ones.”_ Jack’s dawning fear for Estelle was evident in the straightening of his spine and the restless movements of his _errêve_. _“They’ve come to me.”_

“We're on our way,” Jack stated clearly. “Don’t go anywhere near them, stay away from them – do you understand?”

 _“Yes,”_ relief was clear in Estelle’s voice. Jack hung up and almost ran from the room Tosh and Ianto hot no his heels even as Gwen chased after them demanding to know what was going on.

 

Ianto had a very, very bad feeling about this. He was sitting on the back of the SUV with Tosh, while Jack drove like even more of a madman than usual.

“Tosh, keep our way clear,” he murmured. She glanced at him briefly as if to say ‘well, duh’, and nodded once. “I'll do what I can to get us there faster.”

“What do you mean?” she asked in a whisper.

“I'll tell you another time,” he promised softly, and then focused all the illusionary and shadow magic he possessed.

The SUV disappeared in one shadow and reappeared in another closer to Estelle’s home, but to Jack and Tosh it seemed like they had travelled through the roads needed to get there. The vehicle screeched to a halt where rain was pouring down over a single house, and Jack raced towards the back garden shouting Estelle’s name. Ianto glanced at Tosh.

“Stay here, Tosh,” he pleaded, and then stepped into a shadow and disappeared. He would need to talk to her later, to explain a little.

He reappeared in Estelle’s back garden, and saw the little old woman being pulled protectively into Jack’s arms despite the rain pelting down on them. He shed his human disguise, placed an illusion over his face to look like a childhood friend of his, and stepped forward. He ignored how Jack’s hand went immediately to his gun, letting his power roll off him in waves. The rain stopped, and the _aes sídhe_ appeared to him and the humans in their natural forms. They hissed at him.

 _“Why did you stop us?”_ they demanded in their collective voice.

“This woman is under my protection,” he snarled, baring sharp teeth. “You know better than to harm those protected by my kind, _aes sídhe._ Do not approach her again, or any of those I claim as mine.”

 _“You will not be around forever, warrior,”_ the aes sídhe hissed, but backed off.

“I do not need to be. Now, be gone,” Ianto ordered, and the creatures fled. He relaxed, turned and bowed elegantly to Estelle where she was staring at him in wonder from Jack’s protective arms. “Please forgive my kin, madam. They will not harm you again.”

“Who and what are you?” Jack demanded, and Ianto gave him a dry look.

“I am here to help _you_ , and that is all you need to know,” he said calmly. He turned, took a few steps away, and bent to pick up Moses. He placed the cat in Estelle’s arms gently. “The _aes sídhe_ are children in mind and morals, Jack Harkness. They only harm those who harm their Chosen. Cause their Chosen no harm, and they will cause you none.” He stepped back into a dark shadow and disappeared back to the SUV, human in appearance as soon as he arrived at Tosh’s side. He smiled innocently at her when she jumped.

“Don’t scare me like that,” she scolded, and Ianto smirked faintly.

“I won’t. Come on, it's safe now.”

 

Estelle was a little shaken, still, when Ianto and Tosh met up with her and Jack at the edge of the garden, but she managed a smile for them. Her eyes held a spark of mischief when they met Ianto’s, and when no one else was looking he winked at her. She was hard-pressed not to giggle, but her smile grew a little brighter.

“I have a spare room in my flat if you need a place to stay for a few days,” Ianto offered when Estelle explained that some of her windows had been broken. The elderly woman smiled at him.

“Thank you, Ianto,” she said sincerely. Jack’s gratitude was clear when he looked at the Welshman. Toshiko looked between the two blue-eyed men and then stepped forward, smiling at Estelle in her shy way.

“I'll help you pack some things,” she offered, and Estelle smiled warmly at her before leading the way into the house.

Ianto stepped closer to Jack and frowned a little when he saw the stress on his face.

“What happened, Jack?” he asked quietly. “Are you alright?” The man exhaled heavily.

“There was…a creature, similar to them, but different. He…he called them the _aes sídhe_ and said they were children.”

“Children can be the cruellest beings in the world,” Ianto admitted. That was what he'd meant when he said about the _aes sídhe_ being children, anyway. His frown deepened. “You didn’t answer my question.” Jack shook his head once, silently.

“Later,” he murmured as Tosh and Estelle came out of the house with a sizeable bag and Moses in a cat carrier.

Ianto was determined to hold him to it.

 

Back at the Hub, having settled Estelle and Moses at Ianto’s flat, Tosh and Ianto sat with Jack in his office. Gwen and Owen had been sent home, and now only the three of them were there.

“Jack, you said you’ve seen something like those petals in Mark Goodman’s mouth before,” Tosh said hesitantly. Jack looked at her. “When was it?”

“A long time ago,” Jack said quietly. “I was travelling on a train with a small troop of soldiers. There were fifteen of them, all happy, all noisy…too noisy. Then we hit a tunnel.” Tosh looked worriedly at Ianto when she noted the far-off tone to Jack’s voice, and the Welshman moved to stand behind him for silent support. “We thought some birds had got in through an open window…then came the silence. And when we came out of the tunnel, all fifteen men were dead.” There was agony in Jack’s voice, and Tosh looked the other way as Ianto placed a hand on Jack’s back. Jack stiffened, but then leant back a little into the touch. “They'd been suffocated with rose petals. I found out later that some of them had got drunk and run over a child the week before, killed her. She was one of the Chosen ones.”

Tosh’s eyes were wide in shock, and Ianto moved his hand from Jack’s back to his shoulder, gripping firmly for a brief moment before letting go.

“Tosh, why don’t you head on home?” Ianto suggested. “It's getting late.” Toshiko nodded, and Ianto met her eyes over Jack’s head. ‘I'll explain later,’ he signed, and Tosh gave a miniscule nod before saying a soft ‘goodnight’ and heading out.

“Do you want to come see Estelle tonight, or wait until later?” Ianto asked quietly, and Jack glanced up at him before shaking his head.

“I don’t want to put her in any more danger,” Jack sighed. “I'll wait until this is over.” Ianto nodded.

“See you in the morning, then. Try to get some sleep.” Jack nodded, not seeming to really hear him, and Ianto sighed quietly as he left.

 

Ianto didn’t go straight home. Instead he went to Toshiko’s apartment, stopping to pick up a pizza on the way. He knocked lightly at her front door, and smiled at her when she opened the door with a surprised look on her face.

“It is later,” he pointed out, and Toshiko laughed as she stepped aside to let him in.

“You brought pizza, Ianto, that’s enough for me to let you in,” she grinned, and Ianto chuckled.

The next few minutes passed in comfortable silence, Tosh producing plates from her cupboard and a couple of beers from her fridge, and soon they were settled in front of the young woman’s television.

“You know you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to,” Tosh said after a few minutes of small talk. Ianto glanced at her and smiled.

“I know, Tosh. I'm just wondering where to start.”

“Why don’t I ask questions and you answer them?” she suggested. Ianto laughed quietly.

“Go ahead then.”

“Alright… what did you do to that alien inside Carys Fletcher?”

“I forced its life energy out of her, and since it was made entirely of energy it stopped possessing her,” Ianto explained as simply as he could. “I usually require contact to draw out energy, but since Carys was fighting the possession it couldn’t keep hold of her when I tried.”

“So you can do it to anyone?”

“Yes,” Ianto admitted. “But usually only when I need to.”

“…Are you human?” Toshiko asked quietly, hesitantly.

“No,” Ianto shook his head and smiled gently at the young woman. “I don’t mind you asking me, Tosh,” he added to reassure her. Toshiko brightened.

“Are you an alien?” she asked eagerly, and then blushed when Ianto laughed at her enthusiasm.

“No, I'm not. Do you remember the photographs of the stone circle Estelle took?” Tosh nodded. “I'm the one sitting in the middle of the circle. I'm not the same as the others, though – I'm the last of my kind.” Tosh blinked a few times, and then giggled helplessly. “What?”

“You're a fairy!”

“Dark fae, thank you very much young lady,” Ianto huffed, but there was a teasing smile on his lips. “The so-called ‘fairies’ are actually _aes sídhe_. They usually stay out of Wales because of the tylwyth teg.” He leant over and took Tosh’s beer from her hand before she could drop it, placing it on the coffee table.

“So you haven’t told Jack yet?” Tosh asked once she'd recovered. Ianto shook his head.

“No, you're the first of the team to know. I don’t want anyone else to know yet, Tosh,” he added. “Please, keep it to yourself for now.”

“I will,” Tosh promised, and picked up her beer again. “So do you want to stay and watch crappy TV with me?”

Ianto laughed and agreed.

* 

In the early afternoon the next day, Ianto and Tosh were running the weather-watch program when Jack, Owen and Gwen walked in.

“Ianto, what's the weather forecast for today?” Tosh called, not noticing the other three.

“Long sunny spells,” Ianto replied, turning to look down at where she was sitting. Tosh made an irritated, exasperated noise.

“It's happening _again_!” She zoomed in on the area on the satellite, which was showing strong winds in one small area. “I can’t understand it, it's going _crazy_.”

“Just leave it,” Jack ordered, even as a danger alert started flashing on the screen. He rushed out, and after exchanging a glance Ianto and Tosh followed him.

 

The Torchwood SUV pulled into the main entrance of the school Tosh and Ianto’s program had pinpointed, and Ianto’s eyes narrowed slightly as he sensed the power of the _aes sídhe_ nearby. It was already fading, so they were long gone. He grabbed one of the kits as Tosh grabbed another, following Jack into the school in search of someone who could give them an idea of what was going on.

They came across a young brunette teacher first, who had wrapped herself up in a blanket and seemed to be just coming out of shock.

“I've never seen anything like it; it was so sudden,” she said, walking between Tosh and Ianto with Jack only a few steps behind. “And then it just ended.”

“Kate, is it?” Tosh asked, clarifying the woman’s name. She nodded.

“Was anyone hurt?” Ianto inquired.

“No,” Kate replied. “Two children were almost scared to death, but they're okay.” She turned her head to look up towards Ianto. “And there was little Jasmine in amongst it all. She hadn’t been touched. The sun was shining down on her. It was… it was like an aura, like something protecting her.”

“Who is Jasmine?” Jack asked a little forcefully. Ianto gave Kate a reassuring smile and nod behind his boss’ back.

“Jasmine Pearce, she's a pupil of mine.”

“Where is she now?”

“We're sending all the children home,” Kate replied confusedly. “We have to.”

“Right, thanks.” Kate nodded and moved away.

“The Chosen one,” Ianto muttered. “You think it's Jasmine?”

“Yeah.” Tosh and Ianto looked at each other, and hurried after Jack when he strode off back towards the SUV.

 

The SUV screeched to a halt outside Jasmine Pearce’s place of residence, and Ianto muttered a curse as Jack took off as soon as the car was parked.

“Ianto?” Tosh asked worriedly.

“The _aes sídhe_ are here, and they're pissed,” he told her, shoving open his door. She copied him and climbed out hurriedly. “Someone hurt Jasmine, and they're here to take her and take revenge.”

Screams could be heard from the back yard of the house and people were fleeing with looks of terror on their faces, and Ianto took off after Tosh when she ran towards the source.

They pushed past the fleeing civilians and came to a halt in the back garden. Two of the _aes sídhe_ were assaulting a balding man in a blue shirt, and as Ianto watched one of them pushed him to the ground and shoved its arm down his throat.

The other _aes sídhe_ moved until it was standing and hissing at Jack, who was trying to edge around it to get to the human victim and help him. Ianto made sure to keep his body between Tosh and both of the _aes sídhe_. As angry as they were, they probably wouldn’t recall their promise to not harm her since they hadn’t seen her in his company yet.

The _aes sídhe_ in front of Jack grabbed him by the throat, and a snarl ripped free of Ianto without his consent. The green-skinned creature flinched and released the man, even as another finished choking the human to harm their Chosen. The two creatures took off, disappearing into the forest backing the house, and a little blonde girl in a white dress stared at Ianto for a long moment before turning and slipping through a hole in the broken fence. Jack took off after her, and Ianto and Tosh went to see if there was anything they could do for Jasmine’s mother.

* 

Jack followed Jasmine to the old woods, pushing past branches and stopping a metre or so behind the still girl.

“Do you know you walk in the forest?” she asked him loudly, without turning around. Jack warily stepped closer. She turned and faced him. “Well you are. It looks like a very old forest, and it's magical. I want to stay in it.”

“You can see this forest?” he asked.

“Yes.” The girl nodded.

“But it's not here. It's just an illusion, Jasmine. The real forest can never come back.” He kept his eyes peeled, able to hear the fairies – the _aes sídhe_ , as the unnamed creature had called them last night – but unable to see them.

“Yes it can,” Jasmine replied with the conviction of a child, “When they take me to it.”

The creatures showed themselves, perched on various branches of nearby trees. Jack grabbed Jasmine and held her protectively, not wanting to ever give away another child.

 _“Come away, o human child,”_ the creatures called in their creepy collective voice.

“She isn’t sure!” Jack called back to them. He couldn’t let a parent lose their child any more than he could forgive himself for giving away another child.

“Actually, she likely is,” a young male voice stated from nearby, and Jack’s eyes shot over to see a short young man with messy black hair and green eyes brighter than any Jack had seen before on a human. He held up his hands, and Jack realised he'd reached for his pistol. The young man smiled and moved closer, deftly removing Jack’s grip on Jasmine and then kneeling in front of her. “Hello, Jasmine.”

“Hello, Harry,” the little girl replied, sounding happy. “They want you to come with them too, you know.” The smile on the man’s face turned sad and longing.

“I know, but I can’t go anymore. I'm too old now, too set in my ways and too damaged.” The sorrow and regret in his voice was comparable to that which Jack felt. “I would have gone in an instant if I could when I was little, but now I would just hurt them.”

The man stood, and Jack grabbed for his gun again as he linked hands with Jasmine and the creatures flew down from the trees to land around them, cuddling the duo and stroking their hair while they cooed. The anger and malice that had been there had completely disappeared. Jack could now see why the creature at Estelle’s had called them children. They kept calling for the two they were surrounding to ‘come away’. The man just bent and hugged Jasmine tight.

“You can still come with us,” Jasmine said, her voice sounding like those of the ‘fairies’. The man shook his head.

“No, I can’t,” he sighed. “I have too much to do here, too many people I care about. Go, and be happy,” he added, and then kissed the child’s forehead. He stepped out of the group and backed away.

The creatures shrunk to little balls of light and surrounded Jasmine Pearce, the little blonde girl skipping away and fading out of sight. Twin tears ran down the green-eyed man’s cheeks, only to be brushed away roughly.

Jack had to speak up.

“They said you could go with them, but you didn’t. Why?”

“Because I'm too damaged, mentally and emotionally, to be happy there now,” he sighed, running a hand through his hair and making it stand up even more. “Not to mention I'm too old. The moment I lost my childhood innocence I was no longer able to go without harming them. They're only children despite their age and power.”

Yet another person/being was telling Jack those creatures were like children. And this person was very attractive and currently smiling at him, if sadly.

“They protect my godson like the powerful creatures they are, and play with my niece like the children they are. Nothing has a crueller mind than a child, hence the violence of the deaths of their victims.” The stranger shrugged.

“You speak like you’ve seen it happen.”

“I have,” the man shrugged again, and turned to leave. “See you around, maybe.” He started walking, and Jack frowned. He didn’t know anything about this person, but he knew a hell of a lot about these creatures. Maybe he'd fit in with the team better than Gwen, and then he could Retcon the insanely annoying woman and get rid of her.

“Wait,” he called, and the stranger halted and turned to face him with a raised eyebrow. “Are you interested in a job?”

“Possibly,” the stranger replied. “Who are you and what do you do?”

“I'm Captain Jack Harkness, and Torchwood is the organisation. We deal with things outside the government and far beyond the police.”

“Sounds interesting,” the man replied, half his mouth curving in a smile. “I'm Harry Potter, and if you still want to offer me a job in three days’ time then you can find me at Howling Wolf pub.”

He walked away, soon disappearing from Jack’s sight.

* 

Ianto looked up when he felt the _aes sídhe_ leave, and turned his gaze towards the hole in the fence. A minute later Jack returned, eyes red-rimmed and tearstains on his cheeks.

“Where is she!” the hysterical woman being restrained by Tosh screamed. “Where's my daughter?”

“She's gone. I lost her in the wood,” Jack replied, voice hoarse. “I'm so sorry.” The woman collapsed, sobbing, and Ianto approached Jack to place a hand lightly on his shoulder.

“They took her, didn’t they?” he asked quietly, and Jack nodded. Ianto shut his eyes briefly, and then gripped Jack’s shoulder for a moment. “They would have destroyed the world if they'd been denied. You are not to blame.” Jack nodded again, eyes dazed, and Ianto set about organising for the man’s body to be removed and Retcon to be given to all the guests of the ruined party. He would give it to Jasmine’s mother, too – she didn’t need to remember today.

Jack shouldn’t have to remember what he'd needed to do, but there was nothing Ianto could or would do. Some people were best left with their memories intact.

 

Later that evening, Ianto was in the middle of cleaning up the paper research from the case when he came across Jack staring at one of the pictures Estelle had taken.

“Jack?” he asked quietly, and the man jumped before turning to face him. “What are you looking at?”

“There's something familiar about that creature, but I can’t place it,” Jack frowned, turning his attention back to the screen. Ianto took a close look at the image, and paled when he realised what Jack was finding so familiar about it.

Ianto had received a scar in his first century of life which marked the back of his right shoulder. Jack had seen him naked many times, and when he wasn’t in his human disguise he went shirtless. It was an unusual scar – an irregular diamond shape – and there weren’t many who would have one even similar.

“Get some sleep, and you'll be able to think better,” Ianto suggested, and Jack sighed as he sat back in his seat and rubbed his eyes. Ianto rubbed his upper back briefly, and switched off the screen with the photographs. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

Jack gave a half-hearted smile and nodded, heading to his bunker as Ianto watched silently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aes sídhe - a type of fairy from Irish/Gaelic mythology  
> Tylwyth Teg - a type of fairy from Welsh mythology  
> L'næra - dark fae (rough, inaccurate translation. Basically it's what Ianto is)


	8. Getting To Know You

Harry strolled into the Howling Wolf pub just before 9pm, three days after meeting Jack Harkness in old Roundstone Wood. He kissed Luna on the cheek in greeting, and hauled Lukas across the bar to plant one on the werewolf’s lips. He grinned at the catcalls and wolf-whistles from nearby patrons as Luna giggled. Lukas laughed and poured a rum-and-coke for the pub’s co-owner (the other being Luna), which Harry took with a smile before sitting beside his adopted sister.

“Any news, dear sister of mine?” the green-eyed wizard asked. Luna giggled again.

“The immortal is near,” she beamed. “He and the Dark Fae shall complete you.” Harry almost choked on his drink, but opted instead to swallow his mouthful and turn to his sister with a squeaked ‘what?!’

Luna laughed and slipped into the crowd, leaving Harry sitting on his stool at the bar in a state of shock.

 

Jack arrived at the Howling Wolf at 10.33pm. He walked in with his usual confidence, and made his way over to the bar. The amber-eyed redheaded man behind the bar eyed him for a moment, and then jerked his head to one side. Jack looked and saw the man he was here to see, who was sitting at the end of the bar nursing what looked like some sort of whiskey.

Jack nodded his thanks to the bartender and approached Harry on near-silent feet. The young man seemed to hear him coming, though, for he turned his head and met his eyes with vibrant green orbs.

“Jack,” he greeted. “I take it you still want to hire me?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.” Harry chuckled, downed his drink, and raised a hand to wave over one of the floor staff.

“Tell my sister she was right, and I'll see her tomorrow,” he told the young blonde red-eyed woman, who smiled and nodded.

“Yes, sir.”

“Vera…”

“Sorry. _Harry_. Have fun,” she winked, and Harry snorted out a laugh as he headed for the door. Confused but amused, Jack followed.

 

Harry led the way from the pub’s front door to a large, gleaming, black motorcycle, which he leant against calmly as he turned to face Jack.

“What did you find out about me?” he asked, and Jack blinked in surprise. Was that why Harry had told him to wait three days?

“Not much,” he admitted. Harry didn’t look surprised.

“Go ahead, tell me what you found,” he prompted.

“Your full name is Harrison James Potter. You're twenty-six years old, born in a small Welsh town named Godric’s Hollow. You were raised in Surrey until age eleven, when your records disappear. Six years later you resurfaced on Britain’s Most Wanted list and spent ten months on it for reasons unknown. Your name was cleared the May before your eighteenth birthday.” Jack paused, watching the young man’s reactions in case he was uncomfortable with what Jack revealed.

“Go on,” Harry nodded.

“You lived in London until two years ago, when you moved here to Cardiff and opened the Howling Wolf pub with one Luna Lovegood, whose records are sparser than yours. You spent most of the past two years travelling, returning to Cardiff five months ago.”

“Well done,” Harry smirked at him. “That’s more than anyone else has ever found. I might fill in some gaps later, but don’t hold your breath.”

“Will those ‘gaps’ cause trouble for the rest of my team?” Jack wanted to know.

“Shouldn’t do, but if the chance comes about that they will I'll tell you and then I'll take care of it,” Harry shrugged. Then he cast the handsome man a sly look. “I saw you undressing me with your eyes, _Captain,_ ” he murmured, grinning at Jack’s surprise. The American had thought he was being discreet in checking out the younger man. “Want to come back to mine?” Jack grinned.

_Hell yeah._

* 

Eight o'clock the next morning found Harry pushing open the door to the tourist centre Jack had left the address of. Jack met him inside with a wide grin on his face, his blue eyes sparkling. To him, Harry looked younger than he had the night before, but only if one didn’t see his eyes.

“Good to see you here on time,” Jack commented, and Harry snorted.

“You gave me an address, not a specific time,” he said dryly. “So where's my new workplace?”

“Follow me,” Jack chuckled, and Harry rolled his eyes good-naturedly as he followed the immortal American into the tunnel which opened with a touch of a button.

 

Toshiko, Gwen and Owen were in the boardroom when Jack led Harry in. Jack’s eyes flit about the room, and then he frowned faintly.

“Toshiko, where is Ianto?” he asked, and the woman looked up in surprise. She hadn’t heard him come in.

“He said something about going to make coffee,” she replied, and Jack relaxed just a little.

“Right. Harry, meet Toshiko Sato, Gwen Cooper,” Gwen pushed out her chest a little and smiled at Harry, who didn’t do more than glance at her face briefly before his attention moved on to the next person, “And Owen Harper.”

“Doctor Owen Harper,” Owen corrected, as he always did when Jack left off his title.

“Pleasure,” Harry nodded to them politely. “I'm Harrison Potter, but just call me Harry.”

“Nice to meet you,” Tosh smiled sweetly, and Harry couldn’t help but return the smile with one of his own. The green-eyed man took a seat beside her, finding himself opposite Owen. Jack was pleased they didn’t seem to dislike each other immediately, and went to his office to get a copy of the manual for Harry.

 

“So how’d Jack recruit you?” the cynical doctor asked once Jack was out of earshot.

“I met Jack when Jasmine chose to go with the _aes sídhe,_ ” Harry shrugged. “If I was still I child, I would be one of the Chosen. When he found that out, he offered me a job. I told him to wait three days, then offer again if he still wanted to hire me. Last night he tracked me down to my pub, offered me the position again, and here I am. I guess he found something in my information he liked.”

“Just like that?” Tosh asked in surprise, and Harry shrugged a second time.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Jack walked back in with a copy of the Torchwood manual, and behind him was a very, very familiar stranger (to Harry) wearing a neat suit.

“Ianto, meet our new recruit,” Jack grinned as Ianto placed the tray of coffees on the boardroom table. Ianto’s eyebrows rose just a little when he met Harry’s eyes, and Harry had to bite back a laugh at the look of knowledge and mischief in the electric-blue orbs. “Ianto Jones, Harrison Potter. Harry, Ianto.”

“A pleasure,” Ianto nodded with a faint quirk of a smile on his lips, and a smirk flashed briefly over Harry’s face as a knowing glint appeared in his dark emerald eyes. None of the others noticed their exchange, although Tosh did notice the instant spark between the two.

“Likewise,” the younger man replied casually, and Ianto nodded as he took a closer look at the newcomer.

“You don’t drink coffee,” he stated, and Harry shook his head. “Tea it is, then.”

“I'm fine for now, but thanks,” Harry said before Ianto could leave.

“Ianto here is my second-in-command, and he'll be overseeing some of your training.”

“Understood. I take it this,” he tapped a finger on the manual Jack had placed in front of him, “Is my homework?” he asked cheekily, and Tosh giggled.

“Indeed,” Ianto said dryly, and Jack snickered before calling their attention to why he had gathered everyone there.

* 

A day later, Harry placed his paper test on Ianto’s desk, on top of the manual he'd placed there two hours previously upon arrival at the Hub. Ianto raised both eyebrows at him.

“I went to a boarding school. This test is nothing compared to the homework I had in my first year there,” Harry smirked. Ianto snorted quietly.

“If you fail, I won’t let you live it down,” Ianto warned under his breath. Harry snickered silently.

“I know.”

Three hours later Ianto was staring at Harry’s completed and marked quiz in shock. He shook his head briefly, and stood to walk upstairs to Jack’s office. Everyone else was out to lunch, with the exception of Jack. He walked in without knocking, getting the man’s attention immediately.

“Ianto, what can I do for you?”

“Just bringing you the results of Harry’s quiz,” Ianto replied calmly, placing the neat stack of papers on Jack’s desk. He placed a hand on top before the other man could flick through and check the results, getting a raised eyebrow for his actions. “Jack, I've never seen a test answered so well. He got a better score than I did when I last took it, and I know the rules from every angle,” he warned. Jack’s eyes widened, and Ianto moved his hand slightly to reveal the percentage score he hadn’t been able to resist writing once he'd marked the entire quiz.

99.95%

“Are you bullshitting me?” Jack demanded. Ianto shook his head seriously. Jack sat back in his chair with a stunned expression. “He can’t be human.”

“I take it the weapon training went well?” Ianto asked a little hesitantly.

“Went well?” Jack repeated incredulously. “He didn’t miss a single shot once I’d shown him how to aim and fire.”

It was Ianto’s turn to be shocked. Then he seriously considered it. As a wizard in a war, Harry would need near-perfect aim with a good percentage of his spells. If he could translate that over to a gun, it would be perfectly plausible.

“So…we take him on the next weevil hunt?” he suggested. Jack grinned.

“You read my mind.”

 

“Jack, Weevil sighting in Splott,” Tosh called from her computer. It was getting late in the evening, and both Gwen and Owen had already left.

“Harry, Ianto, with me!” Jack ordered, taking the stairs down from his office two at a time. Ianto tossed him his greatcoat, and Jack snatched it out of the air easily. He shrugged it onto his shoulders as Harry fell into step with Ianto, the two following him towards the cog door.

“Tosh, send the coordinates to my phone,” Ianto tossed over his shoulder, and she called out an affirmative as the three men headed out to find and neutralise the Weevil.

 

Harry was first to spot the sewer-dwelling alien, which was loping across a park on the outskirts of Splott. He quietly got Ianto and Jack’s attention, and pointed out the Weevil silently.

“Remember, avoid the teeth and claws,” Ianto murmured.

“Don’t lose focus and use the weevil spray ASAP,” Harry finished calmly. “I know.” Jack chuckled and gestured for them to move in.

Harry’s eyes gleamed in the dark in anticipation, his inner animal restless and near to the surface at the thought of a good challenge. Jack didn’t notice the suddenly predatory movements of his new employee, but Ianto did and shot Harry a warning glare. The animagus grumbled internally but stood down, relaxing into a much more human set of movements.

“Ianto, go left, Harry, slip around behind. We want to trap it against the toilet block,” Jack ordered quietly. The three men split up, Harry moving behind the Weevil with silent ease. Jack got in front of it, keeping to shadows, and Ianto came from its left. Together they managed to box it in with the solid brick wall of the public toilet block.

The Weevil growled, feeling threatened, and Harry bit back the urge to snarl in return, to prove his greater strength. The alien moved fast, lunging at Harry and startling Jack with the unexpected movement. Weevils usually went for the greatest threat, which in this case would be him or Ianto – or so he'd thought.

Harry ducked beneath the initial swing, one leg snapping up as he planted both hands on the ground. His heel connected solidly with the underside of the Weevil’s jaw, and Harry fell into a low crouch, ready for another attack. The Weevil lay completely still on the ground, whimpering quietly, and Ianto calmly stepped closer to spray it with the specially-developed Weevil sedative.

Jack was stunned. He'd had no idea the green-eyed man could move like _that_! It came completely out of nowhere!

“Sir?” Ianto asked, and Jack jolted a little as he snapped out of it.

“Right, well done,” he said quickly. “Let's get this one back to the Hub and down into one of the cells.”

* 

Gwen crept into the Hub late the next morning, only to freeze and pout when Jack barked out her name in a summons. She was scowling as she stomped up to Jack’s office, and Harry rolled his eyes at Tosh behind the Welsh woman’s back. Tosh muffled her surprised giggle in her hands, lightly smacking Harry’s arm to chastise him when Gwen – followed by Ianto – entered Jack’s office. Harry just grinned at her.

“What?” he asked with a chuckle. “She's acting like a child. Even my six-year-old niece doesn’t act like that, not even when she's throwing a tantrum.” Toshiko giggled helplessly, and even Owen snorted from where he was lounging in his desk chair.

An alert went off on Tosh’s computers, and her mirth faded as soon as she checked for the cause.

“Jack!” she shouted, and Jack stuck his head out of his office. “There's a blowfish on Redlands Road in Morristown!”

“Owen, Tosh, you get the SUV ready. Gwen, you too.” The trio rushed about to do as Jack instructed, leaving the Hub quickly with kits in their hands. Harry made sure to keep out of the way, and Jack strode over to him once they were gone. “You stay here – Ianto needs some help in the archives.”

“Sure,” Harry shrugged. “Have fun.” Jack snorted and left, and Harry calmly made his way down to the archives.

 

“It's been a while since I last saw you,” Ianto commented as he leant against one of the main desks down in the archives, raising a single eyebrow. Harry shrugged and settled in a nearby chair.

“A few years at least,” he agreed. “I don’t really keep track of time anymore.”

“And how did your…friends…take it when you left?”

“Dunno,” Harry stretched, leaning back in his chair. “Never bothered to find out. They didn’t support me like my real friends did, so I don’t care.”

“Fair enough,” Ianto nodded. “I never expected to see you here.”

“I didn’t really expect to be here.” Harry’s green eyes met Ianto’s electric-blue pair, and then trailed over his suit-clad form and back up. Lust was evident in his eyes when they met Ianto’s again, and Ianto hardened quickly as he smelt the wizard’s arousal.

He shrugged out of his suit jacket as Harry stood, and a moment later found himself pushed into a chair with Harry straddling his lap. Their lips met in a heated, frenzied kiss.

 

Toshiko was going through the CCTV footage as she usually did at the end of each day, and froze as she came across footage from the archives a few hours previously. She blushed hotly, glad no one was looking at her or in the same area of the Hub.

On the screen, the newest member of Torchwood was naked in the lap of an equally-naked Ianto Jones, his fingers gripping tightly to the non-human’s thick dark hair. Ianto was holding just as tightly to Harry’s rather nice arse, and they were clearly in the middle of fucking. It was really hot.

“Sorry, forgot to delete that footage,” a familiar voice murmured, and Toshiko jumped and shrieked in surprise at having been caught. Harry laughed at her, his green eyes sparkling with mischief as he stepped back.

“Toshiko, is everything alright down there?” Jack called from the greenhouse, and Tosh glared at Harry.

“Yes, Harry just caught me by surprise, that’s all,” she called back. “I'm fine.” Jack nodded and disappeared back into the greenhouse, and Harry smirked at the blushing, glaring Japanese woman.

“Sorry to catch you by surprise,” he said honestly, but the smirk didn’t leave his face and he leered a little at her. “Like what you saw?” he asked, and Toshiko blushed hotly once more as she lightly smacked his arm. “I'll take that as a yes.”

“Are you and Ianto…you know…?” she asked in a hushed voice, and Harry snickered quietly. He knew Ianto trusted her, and he was quite fond of the shy woman himself, even having only known her for a short time.

“Not in a relationship, but we're friends. Friends with benefits, I suppose you could call it,” he added thoughtfully. “I actually met Ianto a few years back, but I didn’t actually know his name until the other day.”

“Really?” Tosh asked in surprise.

“Yeah. I’d gotten some bad news, went out drinking, and went home with him. He left the next day,” he added with a smirk. Tosh blushed yet again, and Harry leant over to tap a few keys on the keyboard. The video footage of himself and Ianto in the archives was deleted. “Don’t tell anyone? I want to see if anyone can figure it out.” Tosh laughed.

“Alright, I'll keep your secret,” she teased lightly. “It _is_ brilliant blackmail material.”

Harry just laughed with her.

* 

The next few days passed relatively calmly. There were a few incidents that needed to be dealt with – an alien artefact in Cathays, a ‘UFO’ out in Leckwith, a Weevil in Grangetown – but apart from that there wasn’t really anything other than paperwork, research and individual projects to be done.

One morning, though, Harry came in to the Hub in a terrible mood. He glared at anyone who dared speak to him (mainly Gwen wanting to know what was wrong and Owen being a dickhead), and in general just being really pissy.

Jack was the first to do something about it. He stalked up to Harry where he was sharply going through some paperwork, grabbed his shoulder and forcefully turned him around.

Next he knew, he was on the ground and his face was throbbing, with Harry staring down at him in horror.

“Holy shit!” he cussed, whipping off his over-shirt and dropping to his knees beside Jack, holding the shirt carefully to Jack’s face. It was then Jack realised his nose was broken and bleeding, and he winced slightly at the faint pressure applied beneath the sore appendage. “Shit, Jack, I'm sorry,” he said guiltily as the others rushed over. “I should have warned you all about my PTSD.” Everyone except Ianto stopped what they were doing and looked at him. He shifted uncomfortably.

“I hadn’t realised it still caused problems,” Ianto said mildly, not even looking at Harry as he checked Jack’s nose. The eyes of Gwen, Tosh and Owen flicked between the two.

“It doesn’t normally,” Harry admitted. “I have my bad days, though.”

“What happened?” Ianto asked, calmly reaching out and taking the first-aid kit from Owen’s hands. He began cleaning off the blood on Jack’s face with a piece of gauze, his touch light enough not to cause more pain to the man and as professional as if he'd done it many times before.

“Problem at my bar last night,” Harry sighed. “An old rival turned up and started causing problems. He looks so much like his father now that I had a flashback. I had nightmares all the short few hours I slept, he bothered me again this morning, and I wasn’t paying full attention to my surroundings,” he grimaced.

“It was the junior Malfoy, then?” Ianto asked curiously, looking up at the green-eyed man. Harry nodded. “I thought he was in prison.”

“He was released for good behaviour,” Harry replied with an irritated scowl. “More like his mother finally bribed and slept with enough people to get him out.”

“I didn’t need that mental image,” Ianto shook his head with a frown.

 

“You knew each other before Torchwood?” Gwen asked in surprise. The two men glanced at each other, then at her, and Ianto went back to what he was doing.

“More like Ianto knows of most of the people I know or went to school with,” Harry shrugged. “We met briefly about…five years ago, was it?”

“More or less,” Ianto said calmly. “I saw the result of what you did to the fools who attacked you when you were seventeen, by the way. Nice work.” Harry frowned for a bit, and then his expression cleared as he realised what Ianto meant.

“Oh, those two idiots; I almost forgot about them. And thanks,” he added with a smirk. Ianto smirked back as Owen finally snapped out of his shock and knelt beside Jack to patch up his nose now it was clean and the blood flow had stopped.

“So why didn’t you say anything when Jack introduced you?” Gwen demanded.

“One, I wasn’t sure it was the same person,” Harry said dryly. “It was over five years ago; we've both changed since then.”

“You're finally over five feet tall, for one,” Ianto said seriously, making Harry laugh at his teasing.

“And I'm not well on my way to being completely drunk, either,” he grinned. Tosh giggled. Harry looked back at Jack, his grin disappearing and face becoming serious. “I'm truly sorry about that. I should have warned you…and to not touch me without getting my attention first when I'm like that.”

“As long as it doesn’t happen again,” Jack muttered, getting to his feet when Owen was done fixing his nose. “You’ve got one hell of a punch.” Harry nodded.

“I know. Sorry,” he said again.

“Stop apologising,” Owen scoffed. “You can’t help how you react.”

“It's been nine years, Owen, so I should be less jumpy by now.”

“Nine years?” Gwen spluttered.

“Can we change the topic now?” Harry asked uncomfortably. “I don’t like to talk about it.”

“Subject changing,” Tosh piped up. “Who's hungry? I'm thinking about going to get some lunch from that new sandwich bar…”

* 

That evening Harry was delaying going home to his apartment (where Malfoy had managed to track him down that morning). He lingered at his desk sifting through some archive folders he was perusing, saying an absent ‘bye’ to Tosh and Ianto when they said ‘goodnight’ on their way out.

He jumped when a hand landed on the back of his neck, looking up into Jack’s blue eyes and concerned, slightly-bruised face. He managed a half-hearted smile.

“Jack,” he acknowledged. “Is something wrong?”

“You should go home, Harry,” Jack replied with a faint frown.

“What time is it?”

“Half past nine.”

Harry sighed, putting down the folder in his hands and leaned forward to rest his face in his hands. The hand on the back of his neck tightened briefly, and then slipped down to rest on one shoulder. A second hand gripped his other shoulder, and a small groan (near purr) escaped him as both hands started kneading gently. He relaxed beneath the massaging hands, tension he hadn’t realised he was holding just seeping out with each movement.

“I would have thought you would prefer being at home,” Jack commented. Harry slumped down onto his desk, forehead resting on the top of a pile of folders.

“Malfoy found me at my apartment this morning,” he admitted. “The bastard tried to guilt me into giving him money. Like it was my fault he went to prison,” he snorted. He turned his head a little, looking up at Jack from the corner of his eye. “I don’t really want to go back in case he's still hanging around. Luna said she'd call me when he left town.”

“If he wants money off you, wouldn’t he be hanging around for a few days?” Jack pointed out. Harry groaned and lifted his head to thump his forehead against the pile of folders again.

“Damn it, I hadn’t thought of that,” he grouched. Jack chuckled and lightly squeezed Harry’s shoulders. “Mind if I crash on the couch downstairs?”

“You'd be more comfortable on the floor,” Jack grimaced. Harry sighed, although a faint smile quirked the corner of his lips. He stood and turned to face Jack, having to look up to meet the man’s eyes.

“Looks like I'll have to go home, then.” His voice lowered and turned a little husky without him realising. Jack’s pupils dilated a little and he lowered his head slightly.

“Oh, really? That’s too bad,” the American purred. Harry laughed softly and smiled when Jack kissed him skilfully. He regretfully pushed the man back, though, a small smile on his face.

“I should go,” he insisted. “Don’t want Gwen stumbling in on us and finding another reason to hate me.” Jack frowned, the mood spoiled.

“I need to have another talk with her, I think.”

“Don’t bother,” Harry shook his head. “She’ll get over it. See you in the morning,” Harry added, grabbing his coat. Jack grabbed his arm and tugged him back, kissing him again. Harry hummed into the kiss and then pulled away a second time. “Jack, tonight isn't a good idea, not when I'm changing moods faster than a pregnant woman,” he rejected the man gently. Jack sighed and let him go reluctantly. “I'll see you tomorrow,” he reminded his boss, and rolled his eyes when Jack gave his arse a light smack as he walked away.

Jack Harkness could be the death of him.

* 

Ianto pressed the ‘play’ button on his answering machine as he shrugged out of his coat and hung it on the hook, listening absently to the first message. It was from Estelle, asking if he would mind coming around at some point and helping her with some of her research. He smiled and shook his head slightly, making a mental note to call her back in the morning.

The second message had him pausing halfway into the kitchen and turning to rush back to the phone.

 _“Ianto, it's Johnny. Rhiannon…Rhiannon and the kids…”_ Rhiannon’s husband, Johnny Davies, broke off with a hitched sob. He scrambled for the receiver and dialled the familiar number quickly.

“Johnny?” he asked as soon as the phone was answered.

 _“Yan.”_ Johnny sounded broken. _“God, Yan, I need help.”_

“What happened?” Ianto demanded, ready to hang up and shadow-travel instantly to the man.

 _“Rhiannon was bringing David and Mica home from school…a lorry ran a red light and hit them…”_ Johnny’s breath hitched again. _“They're in hospital. The doctors are saying the kids won’t last the night. Ianto, I can’t…Rhi and I…we can’t lose them.”_

Ianto knew what it was like to lose family, and to lose children would be worse. It had taken a long time for Johnny and Rhiannon to have the two children, and that was only with the help of a few tylwyth teg with whom Ianto was acquainted.

“I'll be there in a minute,” he promised. “Where are you?”

 _“Royal Gwent Hospital. I'm in the car park.”_ Relief was evident in Johnny’s voice. _“Thank you, Yan.”_

“All four of you are important to me, Johnny. I'll be there soon.” He hung up and slipped into shadows.

 

He emerged right beside Rhiannon’s husband, causing the worried-looking man to jump. Johnny looked so relieved when he saw Ianto that he made the dark fae feel slightly guilty for not having been there for them like he'd promised he would be.

“Thank God you're here,” Johnny sighed, relaxing. “Come on, Rhi’s sitting with the kids.” Ianto followed him into the hospital and into the ICU without protest, using his illusionary magic in order to get past the nurses and doctors who would have otherwise barred him from entering.

“Yan!” Rhiannon breathed a sigh of relief, holding out her arms to him from where she was seated in a wheelchair between Mica and David’s beds. Ianto embraced her carefully but firmly.

“I'll do my best and call in some favours if I have to, Rhi,” Ianto swore. He was immensely glad his father and grandmother had insisted on training him in healing as a youth. While he couldn’t do much for adults or those outside his species, he could at least heal the children enough to make sure they survived long enough to heal fully. “Who is hurt worse?”

“Mica,” Rhiannon sniffled quietly, pulling back from her ‘brother’ and gesturing to the battered little girl in one bed. “They think she won’t last until midnight.” Rhiannon’s voice cracked and broke, and Ianto stroked her hair soothingly.

“I'll do my very best to make sure she survives, Rhi,” he promised quietly. He moved over to his niece and placed a hand gently on her forehead, closing his eyes and gently feeling about for the little girl’s _errêve_. He found it, and gently encouraged it to strengthen by feeding a little of his own to her. The child’s spark of life swelled, and Ianto paused to send a careful, soft wave of healing earth magic to the very worst of the injuries.

Mica’s weak heartbeat evened out and strengthened, and tears of relief ran down both Johnny and Rhiannon’s faces. Ianto gave a relieved smile of his own, and moved over to six-year-old David. He repeated the process with his nephew, and smiled at the worried parents when he was done. He was lucky the children were still so young and their _errêve_ so malleable – if they were more than nine or ten, he wouldn’t have been able to do what he had.

“They’ll recover,” he assured them gently. “I'll come and visit every few days, but call me if their condition worsens.”

“Thank you so much, Ianto,” Rhiannon sobbed quietly, a smile on her face despite her tears. Johnny’s arms were tight around her, his relief evident.

“You're family, Rhiannon,” Ianto replied softly. “I have to go now, but I'll be back in three days.” Rhiannon and Johnny nodded, and Ianto left the hospital.

 


	9. Humans Are Worse Than Aliens

The next morning found all members of the Torchwood team in the boardroom, a couple grumpy and a couple wide awake, seated around the long table with Jack lounging in his chair at the head. Ianto was to Jack’s right, Tosh to his left, Owen to Tosh’s left, Gwen to Ianto’s right, and Harry sitting calmly to Owen’s left ignoring the supposedly fierce glares Gwen was sending his way. He'd seen better from his Aunt Petunia or even Luna Lovegood.

“So why are we here so early?” Owen demanded. He was one of the grouchy ones at this time of morning – it was just after 7.30 and the cynical doctor didn’t usually rock up until 9am.

“Disappearances out in Brecon Beacons,” Ianto stated calmly, passing slender folders around the table as Jack brought up some images of the area on the screens behind him.

“Why us?” Toshiko frowned. “Why aren’t the local constabulary doing anything?”

“Does the Rift even extend that far?” Harry added.

“No, but that doesn’t mean something hasn’t slipped through and moved out of the city,” Jack replied.

“What makes you think it's alien?” Gwen demanded.

“This happened ten years ago, at the same place,” Ianto informed her and the rest of them in general. “And again ten years before that.”

“You think it's some sort of life cycle, maybe?” Harry frowned.

“Whatever this is, we'll find out,” Jack interrupted the forming debate. “Go home, pack a bag with whatever you need for a few days, and be ready to leave at 10am.” The team left to do just that.

 

Hours later, Ianto was both ready and willing to strangle Owen. From the twitching of Harry’s left eye and the forcibly polite expression on Tosh’s face, he wasn’t the only one. Jack seemed to be expertly ignoring the doctor’s complaints, while Gwen seemed to think it was amusing and/or cute in some manner. Not for the first time, Ianto wished that Gwen and Owen could have been left behind for this particular task. Jack, however, had insisted on the _entire_ team coming along so they had more manpower should they need it. Ianto couldn’t think of an argument against that, especially since he wasn’t keen to reveal his abilities just yet and he knew Harry wished to keep his own power secret for as long as possible.

“I hate the countryside,” Owen said yet again, and Ianto’s fingers twitched. He was extremely tempted to lean forward and strangle the man, consequences be damned. “It's dirty, it's unhygienic, and _what_ is that smell?”

“That would be grass,” Harry snapped from the back seat, where he was squashed between Tosh and Ianto. If not for Ianto putting his arm along the back of the seat and the fact both Tosh and Harry were quite small, they wouldn’t have all fit into the same vehicle. Why Harry couldn’t drive his motorbike along behind the SUV, the wizard didn’t know.

“It's disgusting,” Owen turned around to inform them. Ianto shot Jack a dark look when the man bit back a grin, shifting a little in his seat. Harry rolled his eyes at Tosh, making her smile, and leant a bit further into Ianto’s side. Hopefully they were almost there – the cramped situation in the back seat was getting a bit uncomfortable now.

 

Thankfully for the sanity of three of the four backseat passengers, Jack pulled over not ten minutes later, allowing everyone to get out and stretch their legs. Tosh wandered over to the mobile food shack while Ianto paced around a little, and Harry leant against the side of the SUV in disinterest and boredom, fighting off his headache. Jack spread a map out over the bonnet of the vehicle, and both Gwen and Owen looked at it over his shoulder.

“Fifteen disappearances in the past three months,” Jack informed them, eyes scanning the map. Tosh wandered back over, curiosity clear on her face, and Harry paid a little more attention. “The police are stumped.”

“Of course they are,” Owen griped. “No offence, PC Cooper,” he needled Gwen. He had been taking his misery out on everyone, not just Gwen, and with that final sarcastic comment Harry snapped.

“For fuck’s sake, Owen, suck it up!” he snarled. He was restless and antsy, his magic didn’t want him to be here, he had a headache, and he was already on edge from Malfoy showing up when no one was supposed to know his address. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to be here – just stop acting like a fucking child and _deal with it_!”

“Easy, Harry,” Ianto murmured, having come up behind him silently. He placed a hand on the wizard’s shoulder and squeezed gently, and Harry pinched the bridge of his nose as he took a deep, calming breath and shut his eyes. The others were eyeing the short man a little warily, except for Tosh who just looked concerned. _Bless that girl_ , Ianto thought fondly, subtly brushing his thumb over the back of Harry’s neck in a calming motion. The tension slowly eased from Harry’s shoulders and he slumped a little.

“Sorry,” the wizard muttered, not opening his eyes or dropping his hand from his face. “I'm still on edge.” It wasn’t much of an excuse, but it was a valid one.

“What will help?” Tosh wanted to know, and Harry opened his eyes to flash a cheeky smile her way.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” he teased, and Ianto snickered at the glazed look which passed over the Japanese woman’s face before she blushed. Harry grinned, but then quickly became serious. “There's not really anything. If Ianto says duck, though, do it,” he added, glancing up at the fae. Ianto nodded.

“Care to tell us why?” Jack frowned.

“If he says duck, it's because I'm about to lash out,” Harry shrugged. “No matter how far away from me you are, if you hear him say ‘duck’ then I’d suggest doing it.”

“And how will Tea Boy know?” Owen sneered, reverting to his old nickname for Ianto.

“I know everything,” Ianto said in a bored tone, although a smirk twisted his lips. That broke the tension, and Jack went back to looking at his map and explaining to the others.

 

After another hour in the SUV, Jack pulled the vehicle to a halt in a small valley. Ianto climbed out quickly, allowing Harry to escape the confines of the vehicle and preventing the wizard from resorting to strangling either Owen or Gwen – both of whom were still being very irritating. It seemed like they'd already forgotten Harry’s little explosion of temper earlier, or were determined to make the short wizard snap. They hadn’t seen him take down a weevil single-handedly, like Jack had, and neither did they know he was a powerful wizard, like Ianto did. All Gwen and Owen knew was that he had PTSD, a hot temper, and a mean right hook.

“Why are we _camping_?” Owen demanded, lacing the word ‘camping’ with the disgust you'd expect most people to use when talking of a serial killer or some such. “What's wrong with a hotel?

“Do really you want to stay in a building run by strangers when there are people disappearing?” Jack asked semi-politely, and much to Ianto’s relief the doctor shut up. “Right, let's get these tents set up. Harry, can you manage the fire pit?”

“I think I can do that,” Harry replied dryly. “I only spent, oh, two years out of civilisation.”

 *

Once the tents were up and Harry had made a rather decent fire pit, the six Torchwood operatives seated themselves on crates around the camp-table and Ianto passed around the coffee he'd just whipped up with the help of the newly-made fire. Harry, of course, had tea as he wasn’t one for coffee. (Once, when Tosh had asked him why he didn’t drink coffee, Harry had very seriously replied that he didn’t want to risk losing any possible growth spurt that may still be in him.)

“We should play a game,” Gwen said suddenly. Everyone looked at her with disbelief. “You know, to get to know each other better.”

“Yeah, no,” Owen snorted. For once, Ianto completely agreed with him.

“Oh, come on, it's just a bit of fun,” Gwen wheedled. “We can start with something simple, like…who was the last person you snogged?”

“Snog? What are you, an eight-year-old?” Owen asked in disbelief.

“Come on, Owen,” Gwen half-whined. Ianto glanced at Jack, half-expecting him to stop it, but the man just looked slightly amused. “Look, I'll go first,” the Welsh woman added, sitting up a little straighter. “Mine was Rhys.” Harry glanced at Ianto, confusion clear on his face, and Ianto leant over slightly.

“Rhys is her boyfriend,” Ianto murmured. Harry snorted quietly as Owen and Gwen bickered.

“And yet she's trying to get into Jack’s pants? Not that I can really blame her for wanting to – he's hot.”

“Hm,” Ianto hummed in agreement, amused.

“What about you, Tosh?” Gwen asked, turning away from a frustrated Owen. The shy woman blushed slightly.

“I…don’t know her name,” she admitted softly. Everyone looked at her in surprise, and her blush deepened.

“Why, Miss Toshiko Sato, shame on you,” Jack teased.

“I was out at a pub last night and she bought me a drink. When I left she walked me to the cab and kissed me,” Tosh explained. Harry snorted, bringing the attention to him.

“What's so funny?” Gwen asked, and Harry bit back a laugh when he saw the faint hurt in Tosh’s eyes.

“That sounds like something my sister would do,” he explained, and the hurt disappeared. “To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if it _was_ her. What did she look like?”

“Um, long curly blonde hair, blue eyes, about five feet tall, wearing purple radish earrings,” Tosh said hesitantly, and Harry snorted again.

“Yeah, that was definitely Luna. She made those earrings herself. Were you at Howling Wolf pub by any chance?”

“Yes, how did you know?” Tosh exclaimed.

“We own it,” Harry shrugged. “Luna and I opened it to cater to all beings, human and not, although most of the time the humans don’t realise they're among non-humans. It was one of her nights to observe the place last night. She tends to act however she wants, consequences be damned.” He smirked at Tosh. “You know, I can always set you up for a date if you want.” Toshiko blushed bright red, and Gwen took pity on her to change the focus of the conversation.

 

“What about you, Ianto? Harry?” Gwen prompted. “Who was the last person you snogged?”

“Jack,” Harry and Ianto stated at the same time in a matter-of-fact tone, and then looked at each other in surprise. Tosh giggled helplessly at the stunned expressions on Owen and Gwen’s faces.

“Really now?” Ianto smirked at Harry, who just rolled his eyes and elbowed the Welshman jokingly.

“Yes, what of it? He _is_ very attractive,” the green-eyed man pointed out dryly.

“So which of them did you kiss last, Jack?” Tosh asked slyly. Jack grinned unrepentantly.

“Now that would be telling,” he replied cheekily.

“He got to me just after 9pm last night,” Harry offered up. “Ianto?”

“This morning when I delivered his first coffee before everyone else arrived,” the Welshman shrugged. Both were free of blushes and not at all surprised to find out they'd kissed the same man in such a short timeframe.

“Of course, we could always change our answer to the original question,” Harry suggested with an evil little smirk on his face. Ianto knew exactly what he meant, and before the disbelieving eyes of their teammates Ianto grabbed Harry and started kissing him deeply.

Harry clearly didn’t mind, as his hands came up and slid into Ianto’s hair. They ‘snogged’ for a good five minutes, and when they separated both men were flushed and a little breathless, shit-eating grins on their faces. Jack was pouting at having been left out, Owen was gaping in shock, Tosh was fanning her flushed face and smiling, and Gwen was glaring at Harry.

“Well, that answers the question whether or not the newbie’s gay,” Owen choked out.

“I don’t do labels like gay or straight,” Harry corrected. “But yes, I prefer cock.” Tosh squeaked and went bright red, as did Gwen, and Owen spluttered incoherently with red cheeks. Even Jack was blushing faintly, and he had next to no shame. “Don’t worry, Owen, I'm not interested in you. You remind me too much of my old chemistry teacher.”

“I thought you liked Snape,” Ianto stated.

“He was a snarky git, was in love with my mother, and treated me like I was a bully like my father,” Harry reminded the fae. “But he saved my life more than once, so yes I like him – in the sense that I no longer dislike him.”

“Fair enough,” Ianto shrugged, and stood to stretch his arms over his head. “We should get some firewood.” He wandered off, Tosh jumping up and dashing after him to ask some questions and to help. Harry grinned at the three remaining as they tried to recover their composure.

 

They didn’t, which turned out to be a good thing since Tosh’s scream was clearly audible. Harry jumped to his feet and raced towards the source of the scream, Jack hot on his heels and shouting back over his shoulder for Gwen and Owen to remain at the camp. They came across Tosh and Ianto quickly, the former being held tight by the latter with her face buried in the front of his coat.

“What happened?” Jack demanded, eyes showing his concern for the woman he knew to be hard to scare.

“There's a human carcass over there,” Ianto replied, gesturing with his head to his left. Harry glanced over and then blinked a few times in surprise. He wandered over, morbidly curious. It was a recent death, that much he could sense, and the body had been methodically stripped of all skin, organs and muscle.

“Wow, whoever did this either has a medical degree, or is a butcher, or does a lot of hunting for food,” he stated, grabbing a nearby twig and poking curiously at the carcass.

“Harry!” Ianto scolded, and Harry looked at him sheepishly.

“Sorry, I just haven’t seen anything like this before. I'm curious,” he shrugged.

“How can you be so calm?” Tosh asked shakily, shivering.

“I was in a small but gruesome civil war almost a decade ago,” Harry shrugged again, turning back and continuing his inspection. “Carcasses barely recognisable as human aren’t that bad in comparison to seeing someone stripped of their skin while they're still alive. A lot less noisy and messy too, and I have no idea who this is so that makes it easier.” He tilted his head to the side as he poked the carcass again. “There's no way this was disassembled here. No blood. Trust me; even skinning a rabbit leaves a lot of blood.”

“How do you know that?” Jack asked as he moved closer to take a look for himself.

“On the run for a year, living wild,” Harry reminded the man. “My companions at the time were squeamish, so I did the majority of the preparation whenever we managed to catch a rabbit or two.” He leaned in a little closer to the carcass and sniffed gingerly. He leant back and turned his head aside, sneezing. The others looked at him oddly. “Dead about a day, I’d say.”

“And you can tell that from scent?” Tosh asked sceptically. Harry nodded.

“I was in a small war,” he reminded her. “It's not the first dead body I’ve come across and probably won’t be the last.” He levered himself to his feet. “I would get Owen’s professional opinion, though – I could easily be wrong.”

“Come on, Tosh, let's get you back to camp,” Ianto said softly, and led the still-shaken woman back to where they had left Gwen and Owen. Jack and Harry remained behind to make sure nothing touched the carcass before Owen showed up.

* 

Harry was only a little surprised when all four returned. Tosh was looking much calmer, and had one of her little devices scanning over the carcass and surrounding area while Owen examined it. Gwen was standing off to one side, and Ianto approached Harry where the younger man was leaning against a tree.

“It wasn’t alien,” Ianto muttered. Harry glanced at him, but otherwise didn’t react. “The only thing I can smell on the carcass is human scent.”

“So you think we're dealing with a bunch of country hicks with some sort of mental disorder?” Harry murmured back. Ianto shrugged elegantly.

“I suppose. But it was murder, not an alien attack.”

“Are you going to tell Jack?”

“And how am I supposed to do that? He doesn’t know about me,” Ianto snorted quietly.

“Ah.” Harry paused, tilting his head. “Ianto, do you hear that?” he asked. Ianto frowned and listened carefully, blocking out the conversation between the others.

“Sounds like a car door shutting,” he commented, and then there came the sound of a vehicle starting up. Everyone heard that.

“Is that ours?” Gwen asked.

“Yeah,” Jack replied, and took off back towards camp with everyone else on his heels.

 

They reached the camp in time to see their SUV run over the third and last tent before gunning it out of the valley. Jack gave an incoherent yell of rage, while Ianto pulled out his phone and started tapping away quickly. Harry grumbled and started going through the tents, seeing if he could salvage anything. Owen bent over, out of shape and panting, and Gwen approached Jack where the man was staring after the SUV. Tosh joined Harry in looking through the tents, the others following soon after while Ianto continued fiddling with his phone.

“Alright, I'm sorry!” Owen hollered after a few minutes of the cold shoulder.

“Basic security protocols, Owen!” Tosh snapped back at him.

“Oh get off your high horse, Tosh, I was carrying that stupid gear,” Owen grouched.

“What, the whole time?” the woman demanded.

“And then I was trying to put that bloody tent up, and then, well–”

“Owen, you sound like my nephew when he's making excuses,” Harry called, and Jack snorted quietly from a few feet away. “You never leave your keys in the car, no matter what you're doing.”

“I'm sorry, I'm human, I ballsed up,” Owen grumbled, but less whiny this time.

“It looks like that body wasn’t a warning,” Jack said. “It was more of a decoy.”

“That would mean they’ve been watching since we arrived,” Gwen stated the obvious, and Harry’s cheeks paled slightly beneath his faint tan as he met Ianto’s eyes. They had no qualms about kissing in front of people, but Harry was slightly uncomfortable with making out so passionately in full view of a hostile person. It made them greater targets than the others, who had shown less affection between each other.

“Tosh, can you get a tracking signal?”

“Already done,” Ianto interrupted, holding up his phone to show how. “I took the liberty. It's currently 3.4 miles west from here.” Everyone walked over to the Welshman, like flies descending on a corpse. Harry winced at his own thoughts, deciding that yeah, that was a bit much considering the situation.

“Still gunning it at 90 no doubt,” Owen said. “You steal a piece of equipment like that you drive straight on until morning.”

“Actually, no, it's been stationary for the past four minutes,” Ianto disagreed. “I’d go so far as to say it was parked.” Harry bit back a grin at Ianto’s dry humour. He loved the one-liners he came out with – it made things so much more interesting.

“There's a small village in that area,” Gwen said, a map in her hands. “But other than that…nothing for thirty miles.”

“Call me suspicious, but this has all the hallmarks of a trap,” Tosh said seriously, looking from the map to Jack.

“Yah, I was just thinking the same thing,” the man said almost cheerfully, and Harry bit back a groan. “Anyone fancy a walk?” Harry followed almost immediately, the others right behind him as Jack started off west.

This was not going to end well.

* 

“Why would anyone want to live out here?” Owen asked in exasperation as they stood atop a hill looking down at the quiet town. Harry rolled his eyes. If he knew that no one would come looking for him, he'd be living out in the middle of nowhere – it was usually peaceful. This village, however…it looked eerily quiet, not light and peaceful.

“Has the SUV moved?” Jack asked. Ianto glanced down at his phone.

“Not for…” he checked his watch, “An hour now.” He started off towards the overgrown path leading down into the village, Harry and Jack only a step behind him and the other three following silently. A bird shrieked overhead, adding to the eerie atmosphere.

“There is something not right about this,” Harry muttered as he caught up to Ianto. The fae glanced at him and nodded grimly.

“I know,” he replied just as quietly. The entire place felt wrong. It sent shivers up Harry’s spine, and there was something about the _errêve_ of the land that bothered Ianto. They couldn’t say anything without evidence, though, and so they stayed silent as they trekked to the small village.

 

Crows were cawing as the six of them entered the village proper, the place looking completely abandoned and being far too silent. The only life around that could be heard was the crows, and that wasn’t exactly a comforting thought.

“Tosh, Ianto, follow the signal and find the SUV,” Jack ordered. “Owen, Gwen, Harry… let's see if there's any room at the inn.” Toshiko and Ianto nodded and headed off, following the signal, and Harry murmured a soft ‘be careful’ as he followed the other three. He knew Ianto had heard him from the light brush of energy against his magic, and then focused his full attention on keeping an eye out for any villagers and/or strangers.

The inn was dark and silent, no light entering the room except through the dusty, dirty windows. Harry turned on his torch and separated from the others, each of the four of them going their own separate ways through the large room. Owen made some crack at Gwen about the bar, and Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Gwen opened the till behind it with a chime which was loud in the silence. Gwen pulled out a wad of notes and then dropped them back in the till, shutting it.

“Where is everybody?” she asked in confusion. Harry really did roll his eyes this time.

Jack went upstairs, his pistol in hand, while the others continued looking around the lower floor. Owen stuck around the area of the bar, while Gwen wandered off towards where Harry guessed the kitchen to be. Harry started down the hall which should lead to the cellar, if the inn had one, and was about to open the door when he heard a panicked call of ‘Jack’ from Gwen. He turned and rushed back towards the bar, almost bumping into Jack in the process.

The two of them rushed into the kitchen to find Gwen vomiting into the sink, her skin pale and clammy.

“Gwen,” Harry said to get her attention, but she didn’t look up, just waving a hand behind her before vomiting again. Harry turned in sync with Jack, the beams of their torches falling on a human corpse.

A skinless corpse.

“Okay, that’s gross,” Harry said with a wrinkled nose, eyeing the corpse while Jack clearly struggled to retain a straight face. Owen ambled in and saw what they were looking at, and swallowed with a grim face. Harry rolled his eyes and moved closer, crouching beside the corpse and resisting the urge to gag at the stench.

“Harry—”

“No maggots,” he informed the others, cutting Jack off. He held a hand out over the body about an inch from the bare muscle. “No residual heat. Probably hasn’t been here long.”

“How can you be so calm?” Gwen croaked from the sink.

“I saw someone skinned alive once, among other things. This is nothing in comparison,” Harry replied, shivering a little at the memory and then standing. “We should get out of here.”

 

A door slammed, and Jack bolted from the room after the source. Harry cursed and followed quickly on his heels, leaving Owen and Gwen to gather their composure. Both men had their guns in hand as they burst through the front door of the inn, automatically putting their backs to each other as they scanned for life other than the crows.

“Nothing,” Harry growled in irritation. Jack said nothing, but the look on his face made his annoyance clear. A sound from the house beside the inn caught their attention, and after exchanging a glance the two men approached the door. Jack motioned Harry off to the side of the door, standing in front of it in preparation to kick it open. He met Harry’s eyes, and the green-eyed wizard nodded seriously. Jack looked back at the door, adjusted his grip on his Webley, and kicked the door in.

The sound of a gun firing erupted through the silence of the village. Jack fell, surprise the last thing he felt apart from pain as everything went dark.

 

Harry swore viciously and shot a wandless stunning spell (one of the few wandless spells he could do non-verbally without fucking it up or overpowering it) at the horrified boy who had just shot Jack with a shotgun, and then skidded onto his knees beside his boss. The front of Jack’s shirt was drenched in blood and riddled with holes, and he wasn’t breathing. Harry swore again, this time in Latin, and reached out with his death magic to revive and heal the man. He stopped, however, when he realised that Jack’s life-force hadn’t ceased. Instead, it was flaring.

“Interesting,” Harry mumbled, and moved Jack’s head into his lap as he began unbuttoning the ruined shirt. He was wearing two, so Jack could use one until he could get his own clothes. Harry opened the shirt and watched in fascination as the shotgun pellets emerged from the skin of Jack’s chest. The wounds healed over without a trace, and Harry felt a surge of life energy course through Jack’s body, restarting his heart and lungs. Jack jerked back to life with a gasp, his eyes wide and terrified. Harry wrapped his arms tight around the taller man, holding him close as he trembled with pain and fear.

When the trembling stopped, Harry loosened his hold and allowed Jack to lean against him, panting a little.

“Back with me now, Jack?” he asked softly, and Jack nodded silently against Harry’s shoulder. “Good.” Jack stiffened suddenly, as if just realising what had happened, and Harry ran a hand through his hair gently. “Easy, Jack, I won’t tell anyone,” he soothed quietly. “Though we should get you a new shirt before one of the others sees.” Jack nodded and inhaled deeply, before pushing himself out of Harry’s loose embrace and up onto his feet.

“What happened to the one who shot me?” he asked, and Harry gestured towards the house Jack was walking into.

“It was just a scared kid. I knocked him out,” he explained as he entered the house behind Jack and shut the door. He shrugged out of his coat and took off his loose button-up blue shirt, passing it to Jack and then putting his coat back on. “I won’t ask unless you're willing to talk,” he added as Jack was changing. “You you’re your secrets, I have mine. I won’t push.” Jack gave him a startled look.

“How are you okay with this?”

“I'll tell you another time,” Harry grinned cheekily, and hauled the unconscious boy up to carry him into the kitchen and seat him on a chair.

 

Halfway across town, Tosh and Ianto looked at each other.

“That sounded like a shotgun,” Ianto voiced what they both thought, and they bolted back towards the source of the loud noise.

They crashed into Gwen and Owen – literally – outside a house near the inn. Ianto picked up the scent of blood and looked around for it, his eyes alighting on a small spray of fresh blood surrounded by shotgun pellets. None of the others seemed to see it, and Ianto frowned worriedly as he looked towards the house.

“Where did Jack and Harry go?” Tosh asked concernedly, and Ianto moved towards the house before the others could reply. He opened the door, absently noting the footprint near the latch, and stepped inside calmly.

“Jack, Harry,” he called, and Jack poked his head out of a doorway off to the side.

“Ianto,” he greeted simply with a grin. His _errêve_ was restless, and felt renewed in some manner. So it had been him who had been shot. And if Ianto was correct, that was Harry’s shirt he was now wearing. “We found someone.”

“We heard a gunshot,” Tosh said as she walked inside with the others. “Are you alright?”

“Just fine,” Jack grinned, although Ianto could swear he saw lingering pain in the man’s eyes. He needed to find out what had happened at some point. “Harry knocked the kid out so he didn’t try shooting us again. Come on,” he added, and the four of them followed Jack through a small hallway into a kitchen/dining room area where there was a teenaged boy slumped unconscious in a chair. Harry was keeping an eye on him, and glanced up when they entered the room.

“Hey,” he greeted. “I was about to wake him.”

“Go ahead,” Jack nodded, and Harry grinned as he moved closer to the boy.

 

Straddling a chair in front of the teenager, Harry reached out and slapped him sharply but not hard, casting a silent _Ennervate_ as he did so. The boy jerked awake, panic and fear on his face as he looked around wildly.

“Hi,” Harry smiled at the lad, drawing his attention. “I'm Harry. What's your name?”

“K-Kieran,” the boy spluttered, bewilderment quickly forming on his face as he looked around at all of them. When he saw Jack he paled. “I shot you!” he blurted, and Jack snorted.

“Nah, you missed,” he said flippantly.

“Adrenaline and fear can change what we think we see,” Harry assured the uncertain-looking teenager. “You missed. Do you mind telling us why you had the gun in the first place?”  
“I thought it was _them_ coming back for me,” Kieran babbled tearfully.

“Them? Who are they?” Gwen asked strongly. Harry shot her a glare as the boy shrunk back in on himself, and then turned back to him with a reassuring smile.

“If you don’t want to tell us you don’t have to, but we aren’t leaving until we know what's going on,” he said gently. Kieran nodded rapidly, the way people did when scared and nervous, and swallowed thickly.

“Okay,” he whispered.

 

“Ianto, Tosh, go get some of our gear,” Jack murmured quietly as Harry coaxed Kieran into speaking. “Come back as fast as you can.”

“Will do,” Ianto replied just as quietly, and led Tosh back out of the house. He pulled his phone out of his coat pocket and glanced at it. “It's about three-quarters of a mile that way,” he pointed in the direction they were to go, up towards one of the larger houses. “Come on.”

As they walked, Tosh plucked the phone from Ianto’s hand.

“It's lucky you have this,” she sighed, looking at the tracking program. “All my equipment was in the trunk.” Ianto snickered. Tosh glanced sideways at him. “Yan, that boy didn’t miss Jack when he shot him, did he?” Ianto raised an eyebrow. “I saw the blood and the pellets,” she warned him. “Don’t try to lie to me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Ianto chuckled. “No, I don’t think he missed. Perhaps Harry patched him up, perhaps something else healed him. I don’t know what happened and it isn’t our place to ask something he doesn’t want to explain or tell us about.” Tosh sighed but nodded and didn’t press the issue.

“So you, Jack and Harry…what's going on there?” she asked, changing the topic. Ianto laughed quietly.

“Harry and I are friends, or friends with benefits I suppose. Jack…well, Jack is Jack. Harry and I are both attracted to him and to be honest I can see myself staying with both of them until their time is up.”

“What do you mean by that?” Tosh asked with a frown.

“Tosh, I already told you I'm not human. Unless I choose to die, I'll outlive them,” he said gently. “If need be I'll step back.”

“You really care about them,” Tosh murmured. “Love them, maybe.”

“Possibly,” Ianto admitted with a sigh. “As long as they want me around I'll stay.” He glanced at the phone over Tosh’s shoulder. “The SUV should be half a mile that way,” he pointed, changing the topic once more. Tosh didn’t object, knowing she had already pushed far enough.

* 

Harry stood and patted Kieran reassuringly on the shoulder, turning around to face Jack and the others. He frowned when he saw Tosh and Ianto missing.

“Jack, it's not a good idea for us to separate,” he half-scolded, worry worming its way into his gut. Although Ianto could take care of himself he could also be taken by surprise, and he could be knocked out almost as easily as any human. And if he had to look after Toshiko as well… “Jack, it's the villagers, not anything we deal with usually,” he said vaguely, so as not to come off as a crackpot in front of the teen he had just managed to get to trust him.

“Ianto and Tosh can take care of themselves,” Owen said dismissively. Harry scowled at him.

“Be as that may, they're out there alone and we have no idea how many of these sickos there are,” he snapped. He froze as he felt a surge of familiar power, his head snapping towards the window. He rushed over and snarled wordlessly when he saw dark figures struggling on the hillside near one of the houses. It was too far away to see any details, but he knew – he _knew_ – it was Ianto and Tosh being attacked. “Fuck!” He spun and glared at the others. “If we all make it out of this alive, I swear I'm going to strangle you,” he threatened Jack, and stormed past his stunned team members. As soon as he got outside he focused his magic and apparated with a tiny _pop_ , reappearing on the hillside he had spotted from the house. He snarled once more when he realised Tosh, Ianto and their attackers were gone, and shifted seamlessly into his animagus form – that of a large black panther – to start tracking them.

 

“Fuck!” Jack snarled when he got outside and Harry was nowhere to be seen. He turned back to face the others. “Get the kid, and let's go.”

“Go where?” Gwen demanded as Owen headed back inside to collect Kieran. “Jack, what's going on?”

“Harry’s gone, Toshiko and Ianto aren’t here,” Jack snapped. “What do you _think_ is going on? We're getting to the SUV, we're finding the villagers, and we are getting. Them. Back.”

“Right, let's go,” Owen said grimly, tugging the kid along with him. Jack nodded sharply and turned to stalk off in the direction Tosh and Ianto had gone.

He was going to find out what the hell was going on and he was going to make sure all of his team came out of this alive.

 

It didn’t take more than 20 minutes for them to find the SUV. All the doors were open and the keys were in the ignition – nothing was missing, either. It was dusk, the sky was darkening, and Jack was growing uncomfortable with the lack of life signs anywhere.

“I heard one of them talking, earlier,” Kieran offered into the silence, shaking a little. Jack’s attention snapped over to him. The blonde teenager swallowed. “He…he said something about the big house on the hill. I think it's where the village head lives.”

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“I dunno,” Kieran gulped. “I was scared!”

“Jack, ease off a bit, yeah?” Owen muttered to his boss. “He's just a kid.” Jack glared at the doctor briefly but stopped looming over the teen.

“Gwen, you're going to stay here with the kid. Owen and I will check that house,” he pointed at one, “make sure it's empty, and then you will lock yourselves in there until I come back. Got it?” Gwen looked rebellious, but grimaced and nodded reluctantly when Jack pinned her with a glare. “Good. Owen, you'll come with me to the big house.”

“Got it, boss.”

 

Ianto groaned as he came back to consciousness, looking around warily and sitting up carefully. He winced as his head throbbed painfully, and touched a knot on the side of his head lightly. He can’t have been unconscious for long if it was still there – he was a quick healer.

Looking around he realised he was in a cellar, and Tosh was laying, unconscious, to one side. Her coat had been removed, as had his, and neither of them had their weapons or Ianto’s phone.

“Fuck,” he muttered, leaning back against the fridge humming quietly in the corner. He didn’t want to look inside – he got the feeling that he wouldn’t like the contents if he did.

Toshiko shifted and whimpered quietly, and Ianto waited patiently for her to wake up. She bolted upright with a gasp when she was conscious, looking around wildly and then relaxing significantly when she saw Ianto. He held out an arm, and the young woman quickly came to his side for comfort. Ianto’s arm wrapped around her shoulders, and she shivered a little.

“Where are we?” she asked, and Ianto shrugged.

“A cellar of some sort. It was the villagers who grabbed us,” he added softly, and Toshiko bit her lip before wincing when she realised it was split.

“How can humans do this?” she asked faintly.

“I don’t know,” Ianto sighed. “I've never really understood humans, and probably never will. There are just some twisted people out there, and we had the bad luck to stumble across this lot.” Tosh nodded and the two of them fell silent for a long moment.

“Ianto…”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think the others know we're gone?”

“I'm pretty sure they do,” Ianto assured her. He was tempted to use the shadows to get them out of here, but Ianto was pretty sure he had a concussion and he shouldn’t shadow-travel with a head injury. Last time he'd done that he'd passed out mid-travel and had woken on a completely different continent a year later. According to the vampire who found him, he'd been in stasis until the vampire – who went by the name Sanguini – had stumbled across him in the shadows by chance and brought him back out. Thus, he was never going to shadow-travel with a head injury again.

“When they come to get us, I'll make a distraction and you _run_ ,” Ianto whispered in Tosh’s ear. The woman nodded. “Don’t stop until you find Jack or Harry. They're the best ones to protect you.”

“What about you?”

“When I know you're safe, I'll make my own escape. Trust me,” he added, and Toshiko nodded. They settled down to wait for their captors to make an appearance.

 

Harry prowled through the lengthening shadows, following the scent of his non-human sometimes-lover and his shy techno-geek friend. Their scents were tainted by their blood, and the dirty unwashed scents of their attackers. How they could have so much of a head-start on him Harry didn’t know, but he was determined to find them and get them out of whatever danger it was they happened to be in.

He was startled as a police car rolled past only metres away, and realised that he'd almost run across a road without noticing. If the police were here and weren’t doing anything, it would mean that they were in on it (whatever ‘it’ was).

 _‘Only in the countryside,’_ he thought grimly. Shaking his head, Harry lowered his nose back towards the ground and continued tracking the scents of Ianto and Toshiko.

* 

Gwen paced restlessly, her gun in hand, backwards and forwards in the house she had barricaded herself in with the boy. Said boy was sitting on the sofa of the room they were in, his shotgun cradled in his arms as he rocked back and forth. A wide-eyed, terrified look graced the kid’s features, and Gwen’s pacing wasn’t helping soothe either of their nerves.

A shadow flashed past the nearest window, and Gwen stopped pacing to point her gun towards it. There came the sound of a bottle breaking outside (or something similar), and Kieran whimpered.

“They’ve come back,” he whispered in terror. Gwen didn’t speak, instead darting her eyes about in search of possible attackers. Another shadow flashed passed the window, and then the room was plunged into half-light as the power was cut. Kieran whimpered again, his hands shaking on his shotgun.

“Kieran, stay calm and keep close to me,” Gwen ordered, backing up a little. Kieran nodded rapidly and stood, moving over to the woman’s side and darting his eyes about. There came the sound of glass breaking, this time from somewhere in the house, and Gwen’s eyes about popped out of her head as she heard hammering on the doors.

“They're here, they’ve come back for me,” Kieran moaned. Gwen tightened her grip on her gun, fear filling her. The hammering grew louder, and then suddenly stopped. Gwen swallowed and listened carefully. Nothing could be heard but the wind in the trees outside and Kieran’s harsh breathing.

“They must have given up,” she whispered. Both she and Kieran jumped as the lights flickered back on, and then relaxed just a little. She turned her head to look at Kieran, whose wide eyes were focused on the nearby window, and then she felt a sharp pain on the side of her head before everything went dark.

 

Jack drove too fast as he usually did; a grim expression was on his face and his hands were clenched tightly on the steering wheel. Owen in the passenger seat beside him was equally grim-faced, checking over the gun in his hands to keep calm. It was getting dark and the longer Jack went without knowing what had happened to three of his team the antsier he was getting.

He took a corner at twice the recommended speed, and then screeched to a halt when he saw a police car coming in the opposite direction at a moderate pace. His eyes narrowed and he glanced at Owen.

“Owen, take the wheel. If there are police here and they're not doing anything, they're in on it,” he muttered. “I'll slip into the back.” Jack wasted no time in climbing over the seat and hunkering into the back.

“What are you planning?” Owen asked even as he slid across to the driver’s side. The merits of darkened windows – even with headlights shining, it would be next to impossible to see them through the glass.

“If you can, try to get to the others. I'm going to find out what's going on,” Jack whispered, and waited for there to be a tap at Owen’s window. It came only seconds later, and Owen unwound it to look out at the police officer standing there.

“Can I help you, officer?” Owen asked politely. Jack cracked open the back door on the opposite side of the vehicle as the policeman spoke with Owen, and slipped out of the SUV silently. He waited for Owen to climb out, and shut the door at exactly the same time as the doctor shut his.

“Thanks, Owen,” he whispered, knowing the man couldn’t hear him, and slipped away into the woods lining the road.

* 

The door to the cellar opened, and a woman with short blonde hair stepped in carrying a shotgun. Tosh and Ianto scrambled to their feet, Toshiko picking up a butcher’s hook and Ianto grabbing a solid crowbar. The woman backed up.

“I'm not going to hurt you,” she half-whimpered half-hissed, changing her grip on the shotgun so the barrel was pointing up.

“You have a gun,” Toshiko pointed out. Ianto caught a glimpse of the woman’s eyes and scowled.

“You're one of them,” he stated before the woman could try to pull the wool over their eyes, and surprise flashed across her face before an evil little smile curled her lips. Her entire demeanour changed.

“You're a smart one, boy,” she leered at him, and Ianto tightened his grip on his crowbar. “Come along then, and don’t do anything stupid,” she added, cocking the shotgun threateningly. “Drop the metal.” Ianto grit his teeth but did so, Tosh following his example. “Now, does anyone know you're here? Have you contacted anyone for help?”

“We don’t need any help,” Toshiko spat, glaring. When she was put on the spot, she was a fierce ally. It was one of the things Ianto liked so much about her.

“There's no one,” Ianto added before Tosh could accidentally spill the beans. “We had a fight with our friends and said we were going home. They won’t be looking for us.”

“Good,” the woman muttered to herself.

“What's going on here?” Tosh demanded. The woman cackled, her eyes glinting with insanity.

“It's the Harvest,” she said gleefully. “Every ten years we reap the crops.” A shiver ran down Ianto’s spine. “Come along. You're wanted up at the big house.” She stepped backwards out of the cellar and jerked the barrel of the gun slightly. “Come on.” Warily, Tosh and Ianto stepped past her and upon her directions moved up the stairs.

 

Walking across the grass between the cellar entrance and a large well-lit house, Ianto slowed his pace just a little and allowed Tosh to move in front of him. He flicked his eyes towards the shotgun-wielding madwoman, and Tosh lowered her chin slightly to signal her understanding. The door to the house opened, light spilling across the grass, and a dirty, ragged man about the same age as the shotgun woman stepped out with a mad grin on his face. Ianto stiffened slightly, his senses going haywire. He had to take out both of them, or Tosh wouldn’t be able to escape.

“Well, well, well, aren’t these two young ones nice looking?” he leered at Tosh. The woman recoiled slightly, a look of disgust on her face, and Ianto glared at the man. It was now or never.

“Tosh,” he said quietly, and she met his eyes. Her own brown pair widened in understanding, and Ianto moved.

He lashed out backwards with a foot, knocking the shotgun from the woman’s hands as his own hands reached out towards the man in front of them and grabbed his arms. He head-butted the man hard, bloodying his nose and dropping him to the ground. Tosh bolted, and Ianto stopped the woman from going after her by tackling her to the ground and winding her. Toshiko disappeared into the trees, and Ianto smirked as he continued attacking their captors.

He wasn’t expecting a punch to the head from a third attacker, and fell down with his head spinning from the knot on his head having been aggravated. The man he had head-butted took off after Toshiko, and Ianto fought back against the three – four – five people attacking him to take him down. He couldn’t handle all of them at once, not with his head ringing the way it was, and was soon slumped, panting, on the ground with his arms tied behind his back and a knife at his neck.

“Get him inside,” the shotgun woman rasped, and Ianto silently begged for Tosh to have escaped as he was dragged into the building.

 

Tosh panted as she ran, almost in tears as she fled through the woods. She could hear someone crashing through the brush behind her, and knew it wasn’t Ianto. He wasn’t that clumsy. She was being chased.

Still, she didn’t stop running, fear causing adrenaline to rush through her body and spur her on. She leapt over a fallen tree, stumbled, and then tripped and rolled down a short incline. She was winded when she stopped moving, gasping in a small hollow. Her ankle throbbed, but she knew it was just twisted, not sprained or broken. She could hear her pursuer, making his way down the incline a little more carefully than she had, and lay as still as possible where she was face-down in the small ditch. Hopefully he wouldn’t see her in this light…

No such luck. Toshiko was rolled onto her back and a knife was held to her throat, and she held back a sob of fear as he leered at her. The hand not holding his knife grabbed her chin, and after he took a look at her frightened face the grubby hand trailed down towards her breast. She shut her eyes tight in fear, mentally pleading for this not to happen.

A roar broke the near-silence, and Toshiko’s eyes shot open as a black blur tackled the man off her. She struggled up onto her feet, eyes wide in fear, as the man gave a scream which was overtaken by a feral snarl. She looked around wildly, and saw a large black feline standing over the man, snarling in his face. She froze when the man passed out and the feline looked her way, and her eyes widened even further when they met familiar green orbs.

“Harry?” she whispered incredulously, and the panther slunk away from the unconscious villager before rising up on its hind legs and shifting back into the familiar form of her newest co-worker.

“Hey, Tosh,” he smiled at her, briefly flicking a glare at the unconscious man. “Are you alright?”

“A bit better now,” she smiled back at him in relief. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Harry chuckled, and pulled a pair of handcuffs from his pocket as he knelt beside the passed-out man. He rolled him onto his front and cuffed his hands behind his back, before standing and hoisting him up over one shoulder as if he weighed nothing. “Where's Ianto?”

“He attacked them so I could get away. He's probably still at the house.” Harry frowned, picking up the fallen knife in his free hand.

“That’s odd. Why hasn’t he shadowed out?” Toshiko blinked.

“You know about that?” Harry snorted.

“Please, Toshiko, you just saw me transform from panther to human. Of course I know about Ianto.”

“Fair point,” she conceded. “I have a lot of questions for you later,” she warned, and Harry chuckled.

“I'll answer what I can,” he promised. “Come on, let's get Ianto out of there.” He led the way up to the building, Toshiko following with much more confidence and calm than before she'd encountered him.

 

Jack kept his eyes peeled as he moved through the woods, on edge as he listened for any sign of his team or the villagers. He couldn’t hear anything except owls and crickets, couldn’t see anything more than three metres ahead of him. It was getting darker, and there was a light barely visible through the trees which he _knew_ to be coming from the ‘big house’.

He saw two dark figures moving through the trees just ahead of him, one with something large slung over its shoulder, and followed discreetly with his gun in hand. He was about five metres away when they stopped, and a familiar voice hissed out to him.

“Jack, stop stalking us already,” Harry hissed, and Jack breathed a quiet sigh of relief as he lowered his gun and walked the rest of the distance between them. The other figure was Toshiko, looking a little worse for wear, and the thing over Harry’s shoulder turned out to be a stranger.

“Who's this?”

“One of the village madmen,” Toshiko scowled. “Ianto is up at the house. He attacked them so I could get away, and Harry saved me from this one when he came after me.”

“Where are the others?” Harry asked, frowning, and Jack also frowned.

“Owen is dealing with the local police, Gwen is babysitting the kid we found.”

“I think it's pretty safe to say they’ve been captured,” Harry murmured, and pointed with his free hand through the trees to where a familiar police car was pulling up to the big house. The police officer jumped out, and three bound figures were ushered out of the vehicle into the house. Jack cursed quietly.

“We need a plan,” Toshiko muttered, and Jack’s eye caught on a large tractor near the front of the house. A grin formed on his face.

“I think I have just the thing.”

* 

Ianto groaned quietly as Owen, Gwen and Kieran were shoved into the same room as him and the two other still-living victims of the cannibals – for that’s what they were – mentally swearing in three of the many languages he knew. His concussion was almost healed, but there was no way he'd be able to get all of them out at once. He could only hope Tosh had found Jack and Harry, and that the other two hadn’t been captured by straggling villagers. At the moment, the only thing he could hope for was a bloody miracle. He wasn’t sure he could survive being cut up and eaten – not that they'd be able to, but he didn’t really want to leave innocents behind.

“What have you done to him?” he heard Owen ask in horror, and knew he must be a right sight with the dried blood on the side of his face and the forming bruise on his other cheek. He also had a few cuts on his arms from the over-eager cannibals, and his clothing was torn. A baseball bat had been used to subdue him, and he was fairly certain a couple of his ribs had been cracked.

“What's happening here?” Gwen moaned, clearly groggy.

“It's our Harvest,” the shotgun woman smiled.

“Only in the bloody countryside, you sick fuckers,” Owen growled, and Ianto winced slightly as the policeman struck the snarky doctor across the face before shoving him to the floor across from Ianto.

“Get over there,” the policeman ordered Gwen and Kieran, and the two of them quickly followed Owen to the other side of the room. Ianto couldn’t stop the whimper of pain that escaped his control when his hair was grabbed roughly and his head forced back, a dirty machete coming to rest just under his jaw. This was going to seriously hurt…

“Time to bleed the meat,” one of the villagers grinned triumphantly, and Ianto’s power flared wildly in his panic.

To his shock, his unspoken plea was answered by a tractor of all things. It crashed through the side of the building, showering them all with chips of wood, and one Jack Harkness jumped from the cab. He fired a total of sixteen shots, taking down every one of the messed-up villagers with a single shot to the knee. Ianto had never been gladder to see him.

While the villagers lay groaning on the floor, Toshiko and Harry slipped through the wreckage of the wall and made their way over to the captives. Toshiko quickly undid the ropes and cuffs holding Gwen, Owen and Kieran, while Harry went straight to Ianto and removed the gag in his mouth before untying the many ropes around him. He held Ianto’s face between his hands, searching his eyes and face, and then kissed him lightly before standing and going to help Jack cuff and tie up the insane, twisted villagers. Ianto stumbled to his feet and went to help, ignoring the twinge of pain in his ribs.

* 

“I don’t care what you say, I am never going camping again,” Owen commented as they watched the police – called out from Cardiff – load up the twisted villagers. Gwen had insisted on finding out why they'd done it, only to be horrified with the answer she received. Both Ianto and Harry would have told her, but she'd insisted on hearing it from the leader of the village – only to hear that he'd done it because it made him happy.

Some people were just twisted.

“I used to like the country,” Harry sighed, leaning against Ianto where they were both perched on the back of the SUV.

“Me too,” the Welshman replied, watching Jack talking to the head of the police force to have come to collect the villagers.

“I don’t think I'll be able to eat meat for at least a year,” Gwen added, and everyone grimaced.

“Did you have to, Gwen?” Harry groaned, pulling a face. “I was trying not to think of that.”

“Sorry,” Gwen grimaced. “I didn’t think.”

“That’s obvious,” Tosh muttered into Ianto’s other shoulder. He and Harry snickered.

* 

A few hours later, they were back in Cardiff. At the Hub, Owen checked Tosh, Gwen and Ianto for injury and then went home, as his only injury was a bruise forming on his cheekbone. Gwen left around the same time, and although no one said anything they knew she was going to Owen’s apartment. Harry winked at Toshiko when she said her evening farewells, whispering a promise to talk to her another time as she hugged him in thanks for saving her. That left Ianto, Jack and Harry alone in the Hub.

Harry was straddling Ianto’s lap with his arms wrapped around the larger man’s torso, his head resting on one shoulder, and Jack was standing awkwardly near the sofa upon which the other two were seated. Ianto rolled his eyes after a moment and grabbed Jack by the sleeve, dragging him down onto the couch beside him. Harry leant over from his perch on Ianto’s lap and kissed Jack firmly, even as Ianto started kissing the more sensitive points along the blue-eyed human’s throat. Jack made a sound of surprise into the kiss, and Harry grinned as he pulled back briefly.

“Come back to my place with us, Jack,” the green-eyed man urged. Jack opened his mouth to reply but moaned instead when Ianto found a particularly sensitive spot at the hollow of his throat.

“I think that’s a yes,” Ianto murmured cheekily, and Jack nodded rapidly, his pupils dilated. Harry laughed and stood, stretching lithely and crooking a finger at the two handsome, very interested blue-eyed men watching him.

“Come along, then. If you're good I might even cook breakfast in the morning.”

Laughter which was more brought about by relief than anything else echoed through the Hub, and the trio left for the night.

 

Toshiko found herself back at the Howling Wolf after going home and changing into clean clothes, too worked up from the night’s events to sleep. She was staring down into her drink in a melancholy slump when someone slipped into her booth across the table from her. She looked up in surprise, and met a pair of familiar cornflower-blue eyes.

It was the woman who had kissed her the previous night.

“Um, hi,” Tosh blushed, and the oddly-dressed blonde woman smiled at her.

“Hello,” the woman gave an absent, dreamy smile, although her eyes were sharp and knowing. Her Irish-accented voice was gentle. “You are troubled and in pain – what happened to you today?” Tosh was startled, and it showed. “I'm Luna Lovegood, Harry’s heart-sister,” the blonde introduced herself. “I'm also a Seer. Toshiko, do you need to talk about it?”

Tosh hesitated, and the blonde woman reached across the table to take one of her grazed hands gently.

“You have seen much tonight, much of the worst of humankind,” Luna murmured. “You were accosted by a strange and twisted man; that I am aware of. I am also aware my brother saved you in his animal form and you know of Ianto Jones’ non-human status.” She smiled prettily at the startled Japanese woman. “Everything we speak of is private, Toshiko Sato. I am no therapist, but I can listen. Do you need to talk about it?”

Toshiko shuddered, and then the whole story came spilling out.

 

Owen stared up at his ceiling as Gwen slept beside him, his face twisted. He had thought sleeping with her would take his mind off things, but no such luck. The ache in his gut was persistent, and nothing any medicine could fix. He felt hollow, empty, and as always there was nothing he could do about it. All the one night stands, all the meaningless affairs…it was slowly breaking him. He knew he should stop, but he couldn’t. He didn’t know how anymore.

He didn’t know how to stop his self-destruction. He didn’t know how to ask for help. He didn’t want to be weak. He needed…he didn’t know what he needed. He just needed _something_ to stop the persistent depression creeping up on him.

God…how did he let himself get this way?

 

Jack shifted a bit away from Harry, intending to slip from the bed, but the hand resting on his hip tightened its grip and Ianto lifted his head from where he lay on Harry’s other side to glare at him.

“Don’t go anywhere, Jack Harkness,” he growled quietly. Harry was lying between them on his side, one hand loosely holding Jack’s wrist and the other tucked between his chest and Ianto’s.

“Yan…”

“Stay,” Ianto ordered. “We want you here, damn it, so you'd better stay until morning at least.” Jack’s lips twitched into a half-smile.

“I didn’t know you could be so forceful,” he teased lightly, and Harry snorted. He'd been awake since Jack started to move away.

“Clearly you don’t know him that well yet,” Harry muttered, shifting so he was lying on his back and glaring sleepily at the startled man. “I said none of us should be alone tonight, and that means you can’t just slip off unless you want me to track you down and drag you back here. Stay.” Despite his almost harsh words, Harry’s eyes were gentle and a soft smile lingered on his lips. Jack leant down and kissed him briefly, then lay back down beside him properly. Harry smiled in satisfaction and closed his eyes, the hand on Jack’s wrist now stroking the soft skin on the inner side. Ianto just laughed quietly and adjusted his grip on Jack’s hip, and the three were soon asleep.


	10. Quirks and Queries

Nearly a full week after their return from the cannibal village, the team returned from their lunch break to find Harry ranting and swearing viciously in what sounded like Latin as he paced back and forth across the space between his desk and Owen’s. There was a thunderous expression on Harry’s face as he paced, one very similar to that which had been on his features only a week previously when he had slugged Jack right in the nose.

Ianto was the only one willing to approach Harry when he was in such a mood, and he grabbed the green-eyed man by the shoulder to spin him around until they were face-to-face. The others froze, half expecting Harry to punch Ianto like he had Jack, but to their surprise and relief Harry just leant forward into Ianto when the taller man put his arms around his shoulders.

“What happened now?” the Welshman asked. Harry huffed.

“They tried to get me sent to prison for attempted murder…again,” he grumbled audibly, turning his face into Ianto’s shoulder in an almost petulant manner. “Luckily Bones realised the trial notes were faked, just like the last lot, and stopped the proceedings.” Ianto sighed and rubbed Harry’s back absently.

“Who did it this time?” he asked quietly. The others were too surprised or too polite to interrupt while Ianto was calming Harry down.

“Ron, Ginny and Hermione. Percy sent me a letter of apology from him, their dad and the rest of their brothers. Molly is backing the traitors.” Ianto shocked everyone by literally growling, anger clear in eyes, and Harry pressed just a little closer to the taller man to calm him down. It worked, and Ianto pressed his face into the top of Harry’s head briefly before letting him go.

“Do you need to go to London?”

“Nah, Amelia’s sending someone to get my statement. Mind being my witness?” Harry asked.

“Of course not,” Ianto shook his head. “Will my statement be valid though?”

“Yeah, legislation’s changed,” Harry nodded. “It was the least I could do to help Sanguini and honour Remus before I left London.”

“Then name the time and place,” Ianto grinned at him, and Harry smiled back as he relaxed visibly.

“Thanks, Ianto.”

 

“What legislation were you talking about?” Toshiko asked Harry an hour or so later, causing the man to look up from his paperwork with a confused look on his face.

“What?”

“You said legislation has changed,” Tosh reminded him. “What did you mean? Why wouldn’t Ianto’s statement have counted before?” Harry raised both eyebrows at her, but then glanced about to make sure no one else was listening.

“Tosh, Ianto’s not human,” he reminded her softly. “There's a sector of the British government which knows of terrestrial non-humans and has ways to detect them. Many non-human sentient beings didn’t have the same rights as humans. Ianto was one of those, but I pushed a change in legislation.” Understanding dawned on Tosh’s face, and she nodded.

“Right, I'll keep quiet then,” she smiled at him slightly. “Thanks for telling me.”

“No problem, Tosh,” Harry chuckled.

 

Luna skipped merrily across Roald Dahl Plas, humming to herself and ignoring the wary, odd looks she received from passing non-magical and non-alien beings. She twirled in front of the water tower, laughing happily, and then spun to a stop upon the stone which hid her from the sight and hearing of those passing by. She tugged her wand from behind her ear and pointed it at the stone at her feet, sending a surge of magic through the slender piece of wood instead of an actual spell. The stone shuddered and then started moving, and Luna giggled quietly as she stuck her wand back behind her ear and waited for the invisible lift to stop.

She beamed at the wary humans waiting for her, skipping lightly over to Harry and wrapping her arms around his shoulders to nuzzle his cheek.

“Luna, what did I tell you about going places you're not supposed to know exist?” Harry asked in a scolding tone, rolling his eyes at Ianto’s quickly-hidden amusement.

“Harry, you never told me anything about that,” Luna blinked innocently at him. Harry raised an eyebrow. “You were going to tonight, but now you won’t,” she allowed. “Amelia is sending Kingsley to take your statement. She decided three minutes ago.”

“No one else?” Harry asked in surprise.

“No one else is needed,” Luna shrugged, and turned to skip lightly over to Toshiko and kiss her cheek. The Japanese woman blushed. “Be careful over the next few days, Toshiko. Your future has blurred.” She turned and eyed Owen thoughtfully. “You, Owen Harper, are in for a big surprise in a year or so.”

“What?” Owen blurted, and Luna giggled.

“The dragon tamer will certainly surprise you,” she laughed, and Harry sighed as he shook his head. Luna turned towards and then scowled at Gwen. “I don’t like your ancestors, Gwen Cooper. Make sure you don’t make the same mistakes they did.” A smile returned to her face as she bounded over and hugged Ianto. He returned the hug, surprised but not objecting. “You're good for the two of them,” she smiled up at him. “Keep close to them in harsh times to come.”

“Of course, Miss Lovegood,” Ianto inclined his head respectfully to the Seer.

“It's Luna, warrior, as you well know,” Luna scolded, and then turned and met Jack’s wary gaze with her bright cornflower-blue eyes. She approached him easily, tilting her head to one side as she looked up at him from where she halted a foot away. “You have seen so much pain and suffering, and unfortunately so much more is to come,” she said sadly. “Keep those you love by your side, Jack Harkness, and they will help you through it. Do not be afraid of losing them – the two whom your heart desires are not easy to lose and even harder to kill.” She lifted a hand and lightly brushed her fingers across his left temple. Her next words were for him alone, murmured too softly for even Ianto to pick up. “Do not take the Doctor’s words to heart when you next say farewell. You are as you are supposed to be.” She smiled prettily at him and dropped her hand, skipping back over to Harry and wrapping her arms around his neck again to kiss his cheek in a sisterly manner.

“Luna,” Harry sighed, rolling his eyes again. “Must you cause such trouble?”

“On the contrary, my dear elder brother, I am warning of future troubles and giving sound advice,” Luna objected in an almost airy tone. “Draco has been chased out of town by Vera’s lover. He attempted to seduce her and Jean Claude was not impressed.” Harry laughed freely at that. Vera was a vampire waitress at Howling Wolf, and her incubus mate Jean Claude was extremely possessive and protective of her.

“Thanks for telling me, Luna,” he smiled at her, tugging lightly on a long blonde curl. “I'll be by the pub later.”

“I know,” Luna smiled impishly, and waved to the rest of the team as she returned to the lift and it started rising of its own accord.

 

She was gone in seconds, and the others turned on Harry.

“What?” Harry raised his hands defensively. “I never told her where I work, and I certainly didn’t tell her how to get in.”

“Then how the hell did she know?” Owen demanded. “And what the fuck is she on?”

“For starters, she's not ‘on’ anything,” Harry scowled at the doctor. “She's always been like that, for as long as I've known her. She's a genuine Seer. If you were seeing the strands of time surrounding everyone and everything, you'd be a bit loopy too.”

“How long have you known her? Most Seers I've heard of didn’t live past their teens,” Ianto stated curiously.

“We went to school together since she was eleven and I was twelve, but I didn’t actually meet her until she was fourteen and I was fifteen. She's been a sister to me ever since. People at school didn’t realise she was a Seer, so she was bullied and teased for years,” Harry explained with a shrug. “You'd think with a nutcase like Trelawney in the North Tower and a headmaster like Dumbledore someone would realise a person like Luna isn’t that odd,” he muttered more to himself than to the others, frowning faintly.

“What was all that nonsense about a dragon tamer, then?” Gwen asked with a frown of her own. Harry cackled.

“Charlie Weasley, second-eldest son of the Weasley family, the only dragon tamer Luna and I know. Single, confirmed bisexual, has a thing for sarcastic blokes with very dark hair, very stubborn and persistent. If you catch his eye, Owen, you might as well give in straight away, because he won’t let you go,” Harry snickered.

“Dragon tamer?” Gwen persisted as Owen spluttered incoherently. Toshiko was giggling quietly, while Jack was frowning and pressing some buttons on his wrist-strap. He was trying to figure out how Luna had managed to get in.

“Maybe,” Harry smirked at her, just to irritate the woman. “You'll have to wait and see.”

 

Later that day the whole team went to lunch at a pub not far from the Hub. Jack had forwarded the Rift alert to his wrist-strap on Ianto’s urging, and joined them on their group outing. They crowded into a single booth, and had only just ordered when a dark-skinned hand fell onto Harry’s shoulder. The young man looked up in surprise and to the shock of his co-workers a genuine grin formed on his face.

“Hey, Kingsley,” he greeted happily, standing and embracing the man briefly. Kingsley was well over six feet tall and of obvious African descent, dressed in what appeared to be some sort of traditional robe-like garment with his head shaven bald and a gold hoop in one ear. He was much broader in the shoulders than any of the Torchwood employees, and looked rather imposing despite the short and relatively slender young man latched onto him.

“Harrison,” he greeted, his teeth flashing a startling white in his dark face as he smiled. “Madam Bones sends her greetings and wishes of good health.”

“Right back at her,” Harry replied, still smiling. “I take it you're here for my statement?”

“Yes. Have you got a witness?”

“I have,” Harry nodded, gesturing to Ianto. Kingsley eyed him for a moment, contemplation visible on his features, and then he raised an eyebrow at Harry. There seemed to be an unspoken query in the gesture, for Harry nodded. Kingsley relaxed ever-so-slightly, alerting the others to the fact that he'd been tense in the first place. A good half of them wondered why, but didn’t ask. They'd drill Harry for information later.

“Very well. Shall we?” Kingsley gestured to an empty booth a few metres away. Harry and Ianto stood and followed him over to the booth.

 

Taking a seat opposite the tall robed man, Harry flicked a hand discreetly and erected a privacy ward around them. Kingsley relaxed further, pulling a notebook and a pen from a pocket inside his robes. His dark eyes stared calmly at the two men seated opposite him.

“State your full name, age, species and current city of residence for the records.”

“Harrison James Potter, human half-blood wizard, twenty-six, Cardiff.”

“Ianto Jones, dark fae, 1951, Cardiff.” Ianto’s voice was calm and steady. Kingsley’s eyes widened, surprise evident as it broke through his stoic demeanour.

“Dark fae?” he repeated in disbelief. Ianto met his gaze evenly and raised both eyebrows.

“Why would I lie? I have no reason to do so.” Harry snickered, snapping Kingsley from his shock, and the dark man quickly scrawled down Ianto’s details.

“The crimes you have been accused of occurred a week ago yesterday,” he informed them. Harry snorted and Ianto chuckled. Kingsley was clearly bewildered.

“That time last week the two of us were at our workplace all day. I punched my boss because Malfoy junior had been causing problems for me the day before, and I ended up going to Ianto’s place when I left work,” Harry explained. Ianto nodded.

“We were both at work together all day, and Harry called me as he was leaving work to ask to spend the night at my apartment. I agreed, he arrived a minute later, and didn’t leave until the next day,” Ianto confirmed.

“Did you use any magic that day? Either of you?”

“Apart from maintaining my human form, no,” Ianto shook his head.

“I apparated to Ianto’s apartment, but that was it,” Harry shrugged. Kingsley nodded.

“If it came to such, would you be willing to restate that under Veritaserum?”

“Yes,” Ianto and Harry said firmly at the same time. Kingsley chuckled as he made a few more notes and slipped the notebook back into his pocket.

“Thank you. You'll receive notice if you are required to come to a hearing,” he assured Harry as the privacy shield dropped. Harry shook the taller man’s hand and Ianto gave a polite nod, and Kingsley headed out of the pub as calmly and silently as he'd entered.

Ianto and Harry returned to their co-workers.

 

“What was that all about?” Gwen demanded as the two retook their seats. Harry gave her an ‘are you _stupid_?’ look, but didn’t answer as he pointedly turned away and engaged Toshiko in a conversation about her latest project. Ianto decided to reply so as not to ruin their lunch with one of Gwen’s tantrums.

“Surely you recall the letter Harrison received yesterday,” he said mildly. “That was the man who was sent to take Harry’s statement. I was his witness.”

“He's some sort of police officer?” Owen asked sceptically.

“Something like that, and one of the best,” Harry nodded, ending his conversation with Tosh.

“But he was so informal,” Toshiko noted confusedly.

“He's also an old friend,” Harry shrugged. “I've known him since I was fifteen. He's an honest man and a good person to have at your back.” He changed the topic quickly. “So, are we going to order or what?”

 

Back at the Hub that afternoon, Harry was only slightly surprised to be called to Jack’s office. He'd been expecting something like that ever since Luna showed up, and took a deep, calming breath as he walked towards the room in which his boss was waiting. He knew better than to even hope that Jack would let something like Luna’s sudden appearance slide, even if the charismatic man had shared a bed with both Harry and Ianto more often than not in the past week.

“How did your sister get in?” Jack asked as soon as the door to his office was closed, looking frustrated. Harry sighed quietly.

“I don’t know exactly, but she means no harm,” he replied honestly, running a hand through his hair. “Luna is a strange girl, always has been, but she's harmless unless someone harms those she considers friends and family. Until she was about fourteen she didn’t have true friends, so she values them above all but her chosen family.”

“But you have some idea of how she got in,” Jack persisted, ignoring or accepting Harry’s judgement of the girl’s character. The green-eyed wizard resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Jack’s single-mindedness.

“I have a vague idea, yes, but it's illegal for me to tell anyone not in the know.” He held up a hand to stall Jack’s argument. “Yes, I know Torchwood doesn’t answer to the government, but neither do I. Not the one you're aware of. If I can I'll tell you at some point, but I can’t right now. If I do your memory will be wiped and I'll be forced to leave, and be unable to be within a five-mile radius of your location for as long as you're alive.”

Jack had stiffened at the mention of memory loss, and frowned when Harry spoke of the consequences to himself should he speak.

“And if I swear to keep it secret?” Jack wanted to know. Harry sighed.

“If there was any way I could guarantee no one finds out I told you, then it would be fine,” he allowed. “But I can’t be certain of that.” He eyed the blue-eyed man thoughtfully, mentally warring with himself. He honestly wanted to let Jack know, but… “Have you ever heard of the Statute of Secrecy?” he asked. Jack frowned and then shook his head. “Then I can’t say. I'm sorry.”

Jack sighed and sat down in his chair, rubbing a hand over his face briefly. Harry waited for him to gather his thoughts.

“Just tell me this. Can anyone else get in that way?”

“It's _possible_ , but it's more likely it won’t happen.”

Before Jack could question him any further, before Harry could explain Luna’s eccentricities and how she knew things others didn't, a call from Toshiko interrupted their conversation. They had a possible case. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be the last chapter for a while - I'm currently working on chapter 11 and am studying at uni so I don't have much time to write. I will not give up on this story, though.


	11. Mind Games and A Murderer

 

Harry and Ianto remained at the Hub while Jack took the others to the site they were to investigate. The remains of a human had been found with a large hole punched through the ribcage on the left side, and for some reason Toshiko’s programs had picked up on it. So, Jack took her, Owen and Gwen to the site in order to find out what was going on.

Arriving at the construction site, Jack was quick to use his wrist strap to scan the area for the readings which had brought the find to their attention. He was the first one to reach the tent covering the unearthed skeleton, Toshiko a few steps behind him and the other two only steps behind her, and set about finding the cause for their presence.

None of them noticed the smirking blonde woman watching from the boundary tape the police set up.

 

Luna jerked and shook her head violently, capturing the attention of her employees.

“Is there something wrong, Luna?” Vera asked concernedly, and the blue-eyed blonde gave the vampire a half-hearted, fleeting smile.

“Yes, but there is nothing I can do,” she sighed, shoulders slumping slightly. Lukas placed a hand on her shoulder briefly, and the young witch shook herself and straightened to smile at her worried employees. “I'll be fine. Gregory, what was last week’s takings?”

Lukas and Vera exchanged worried glances, but didn’t press. If Luna’s melancholy persisted they’d contact Harry, but for now there was nothing they could do.

 

“Once, just once, I’d like to walk into one of these tents and find a party,” Jack complained good-naturedly as Owen slid down into the hole beside the skeleton. Toshiko wasn’t far behind. “You know, with food, drink, people dancing, a girl crying in the corner.” Toshiko rolled her eyes at Owen, who grinned and held back a laugh, as Gwen sidled over towards where Jack was crouched near the hole. A dirt-encrusted metal object was Jack’s focus, while Owen and Tosh were examining the skeleton.

“Is it alien?” the Welsh woman asked.

“And how,” Jack replied, and listed off a few elements Toshiko hadn’t heard of before, along with dark matter.

“Any idea what it is?” Gwen persisted.

“Not a clue,” Jack admitted. “It could be a weapon, or even a really big stapler.” Owen lowered his chin to hide his smile, continuing with his examination of the skeleton. “How's our friend there?”

“She's dead,” Owen stated caustically.

“Yeah, thanks, we can see,” Jack replied sarcastically. “She?”

“Judging by the size of the skull…” Owen trailed off.

“How long has she been here?” Jack asked. Tosh could answer that, and did.

“From the depth they found her, 196 years and 11 to 11-and-a-half months,” she gestured to the upturned dirt around the skeleton. “The ground’s been disturbed so I'm afraid I can’t be more accurate.”

“That’s more than accurate enough,” Jack assured her before Gwen could make a comment – she had opened her mouth to say something, and Jack didn’t feel like putting up with her chatter right now. “Owen, cause of death?”

“Well, I can’t be sure, but see those shattered ribs?” he pointed towards the hole in the ribcage. “I reckon she was shot.”

“Well, let's get her back to the Hub and find out.” Jack stood and strode off, greatcoat flapping behind him, and Toshiko hauled herself out of the hole easily to start securing the possible stapler.

Owen followed her up, using the ladder instead of his upper body strength, and Gwen offered a hand to help him up the final half-metre.

“Oh, you're so light, you're like a girl,” Gwen teased.

“I'm not light, I'm wiry,” Owen protested. “In fact, girls go mad for it. But I guess I don’t need to tell you that,” he added, and Tosh resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Like they could be any more obvious they were sleeping together. Gwen turned around, a smile on her face, but the smile disappeared when she saw the unimpressed look on Tosh’s face.

Things were tense the rest of the way back to the Hub.

 

Ianto frowned as he saw Gwen and Owen messing around under Tosh’s work-station, having just come up from the archives with some files the shy woman had requested of him. He was about to say something when Tosh returned from retrieving a file from Harry, and both Gwen and Owen scrambled guiltily away from Tosh’s computers.

“Um, I'm really sorry, I think your computer might be dead,” Owen said, not sounding sorry at all. Harry moved over to Ianto with a confused frown on his face, and the Welshman gestured for him to be silent. He wanted to see if he needed to step in.

“You're kidding!” Tosh exclaimed, dismayed, rushing the last few steps to her blank computer screens. “What happened?”

“Okay, so she said I was no good at sports, hello, so I said well throw something to—”

“What happened to the computer?” Tosh interrupted angrily, turning away from her screens and keyboards to glare at the doctor. Ianto started over as Owen fidgeted like a chastised child.

“Oh, I, uh, think I kicked out the plug…”

“What?” Toshiko half-whispered, looking horrified. Anger quickly overtook her shock as she started fiddling with her downed computer. “I was running a translation program I'd written! I'd entered every scrap of alien writing we've got, and broken them down into binary threads to see if there was a common derivation!”

Gwen and Owen exchanged ‘what the fuck?’ looks the entire time Tosh was speaking, and Gwen still looked like a stunned mullet when Tosh spun on them in frustration.

“That was a bit of a mouthful,” Owen muttered. Gwen giggled, but stopped quickly at the look on Tosh’s face.

“Sorry, private joke, um, stupid joke,” Gwen tried to brush it off.

“We're supposed to be professionals!” Tosh snapped. “We have a job to do!”

Ianto decided to step in before Tosh was riled up any further, and barred Gwen’s escape route by climbing the few stairs to Tosh and Owen’s workstations.

“Save your jokes for your own time,” he began, looking sternly between the two foolish people he was supposed to work with and trust. “Owen, you’ve been here long enough to know better than to mess around near Toshiko’s computers. Gwen, I'm sure you didn’t behave like this in the police force, so why are you doing so here? Tosh, go home and calm down. I'll get the program running again.”

Tosh took a deep breath to calm down somewhat, then nodded curtly and grabbed her jacket, glaring again at Owen and Gwen as she headed towards the cog door. Harry approached Tosh’s computer and started rebooting it, ignoring the others expertly.

 

“Gwen, Owen, my office, now,” Jack called before Ianto could truly get going, and the Welshman gave a grateful nod to his superior as a grumbling Gwen and Owen reluctantly headed towards Jack’s office. “Ianto, see if you can get Toshiko’s translation program running again before you go home.”

“I was planning on it,” Ianto assured him, and Jack flashed a quick smile his way before returning to his office. Ianto turned to Harry, who was no longer fiddling with Tosh’s computer but was instead looking at him thoughtfully. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Harry shook his head, giving a slight smirk. “I'm just thinking of ways to get the two of them back for stressing Tosh out so much.” A smirk of his own formed on Ianto’s face, and he leant over Harry’s shoulder to press a few keys and restart the translation program from the most recent auto-save.

“I'm sure I can think of a few things,” he murmured in Harry’s ear, and the wizard laughed quietly. The two of them fell into a comfortable silence while Jack reprimanded Gwen and Owen in his office upstairs.

 

Instead of going home, Toshiko went to one of the nicer pubs near her apartment. It took nearly two whole glasses of a very good wine to calm down enough to consider going home, and even then she was still extremely irritated. She and Ianto had been working on that translation program for two and a half months now, and Owen and Gwen had managed to destroy their progress within two minutes! It was beyond frustrating, and even though she knew Ianto had perfect recall and could input any lost data, it was the principal of the thing. If Ianto hadn’t been helping her with the program, she could have lost everything she'd managed to achieve so far because Owen wanted to show off to his most recent shag.

Tosh was jolted from her thoughts by a woman addressing her and leaning against the bar beside her.

“So the guy over there has been staring at me all evening,” the blonde woman said in a near whisper, gesturing with her eyes to someone seated across the room. “And I've told him he's wasting his time but he won’t listen.” The woman sounded exasperated and looked annoyed. Toshiko leant back slightly as the blonde got in her personal space. There was only one blonde woman she felt even remotely comfortable having so close, and that was Harry’s quirky sister. “So I've come over to talk to you because I know how this ends. He gets a punch in the neck, and I get barred.” Toshiko turned to glance at the man the woman was talking about, and although he wasn’t bad-looking there was something about the set of his mouth which would put most self-respecting, sensible, sober women off. The blonde woman was now leaning back against the bar casually, glancing sideways at Tosh. “And I've already been barred from about twenty pubs,” her voice lilted up at the end, almost like a question if not for the confidence in her tone. “And I don’t want to get barred from this one because they do these nice olives on the tables.”

“Uh, right,” Tosh said awkwardly, feeling like she had to say something since the woman had just spoken to her for a solid three minutes. “Okay then…”

“Cool,” the blonde smiled, turning to face the bar. “Let me get you a drink.” Tosh really wanted to leave, but felt extremely awkward in doing so.

“Really, there's no need,” she protested, but the blonde ignored it.

“JD and Coke,” the woman ordered from the bartender. “And Toshiko, what do you want?”

A chill ran up the computer genius’ spine.

“I didn’t tell you my name.” She was wary now, and really, really wanted to leave but something held her back.

“Oh, yeah, that was the other thing,” the blonde woman turned back to face her, a half-smile on her admittedly attractive face. “I kind of know who you are.”

“I think you're mistaken,” Toshiko denied, heart pounding.

“Toshiko Sato, born in London 1980, moved to Osaka when you were 2 and then back to the UK in 1991. Parents in the RAF…” Toshiko was panicking as the stranger continued to state where her grandfather had worked. “Very impressive. University, blah blah, snapped up to government science think-tank when you were twenty, recruited to Torchwood three years ago.” Tosh couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. How could this complete stranger know nearly everything about her? It wasn’t like more than half of that could be found online! “I saw you at that building site this afternoon. What was that you had in that case?” The blonde woman lit a cigarette, and Toshiko could finally move even though the woman’s dark eyes were still pinning her in her seat.

“How do you know about Torchwood?” Toshiko wanted to know. She would stay long enough to find out how much this woman knew, and then she would be gone.

 

Ianto leant back in his chair and stretched, grimacing as his spine cracked and his elbows popped. He'd just spent the past hour working on Toshiko’s translation program, getting it back to how it had been before Owen had kicked out the plug, and his entire body ached from staying in one position too long. While he may not be strictly mortal, he still needed to move every now and then to avoid muscle pain.

A pair of warm hands settled onto his shoulders, familiar _errêve_ brushing against his senses tantalizingly, and Ianto turned his head to look up at the wizard standing behind him. Harry’s lips twitched into a small smile, and he began massaging Ianto’s tense neck and shoulders firmly. Ianto's head dropped down towards his chest, a sigh of relief escaping him as the tension slowly melted away.

“How much did you manage to recover?” Jack asked as he approached, having sent Owen and Gwen home for the evening. Ianto turned his head to face the other blue-eyed man, an extremely relaxed expression on his face thanks to Harry’s skilled massage.

“Nearly everything up to when Owen kicked out the plug,” he replied, eyes closing when Harry lifted a hand from his shoulder and ran it through Ianto's hair. “If we leave it running overnight it should be back to how it was by the time Tosh gets here tomorrow.” Jack grinned at the sleepiness in Ianto's voice, and Harry winked at him over the Welshman’s head.

“Are you coming home with me tonight?” Harry asked after a few minutes of silence, an uncertain look on his face as he looked between the two. While he was usually confident in himself, he wasn’t sure whether or not his two casual lovers wanted to be with him as often as he wanted to be with them. Tonight he wanted to have them near, although he didn’t know why, but he didn’t know if they wanted the same.

“If that’s what you want,” Ianto yawned, sitting up and stretching again. Jack looked undecided, and Harry turned a querying eye to him.

“I should stay and monitor the Rift…”

“You say it like you can’t forward an alert to that wrist strap of yours,” Ianto grouched, leaning back into the wizard standing behind him. Jack grinned sheepishly.

“You'd forgotten about that, hadn’t you?” Harry asked with a grin of his own, and Ianto laughed at the somewhat embarrassed look on the other man’s face.

“Alright, I'll come over.” Despite his reluctant tone, his eyes were bright and cheerful. Harry stepped closer and dragged the taller man down into a strong kiss, smirking at Jack’s surprised (if muffled) exclamation before he started kissing back. Ianto shook his head in amusement as Jack’s hands quickly found their way to Harry's arse, the wizard’s hands gripping tightly to Jack’s hair in return.

“I'll check on Myfanwy and then we can leave,” he murmured even though he doubted they could hear him, leaving the two humans locked in their embrace as he went to do just that.

 

Despite her wish to leave, Toshiko found herself sitting at a small table beside the blonde woman – who had introduced herself as Mary – talking as if she had known and worked with the woman for years. Things she didn’t speak about even with Ianto or Harry (whom she had grown close to over the past few weeks) poured from her mouth without hesitation, and more than once Tosh began wondering why she was giving out classified information to this relative stranger. No sooner than she had grasped the thought, however, it would slip from her mind at a query or comment from Mary.

Finally, though, she managed to stop her babble.

“I could get fired, just for telling you that,” she blurted, looking away and pressing her hands down on the table beside her fourth glass of wine. Beside her, Mary took a small gilded box from her purse.

“I want to show you something,” she said, and her painted nails cracked the seal on the box deftly. Tosh couldn’t help but look.

“It's a pendant,” she stated, slightly confused. The necklace was a slightly thick tarnished gold, and the pendant on it a futuristic-looking mix of silvery metal and gleaming green-blue glass or stone. Toshiko took the necklace without hesitating and placed it around her neck before she even realised she had moved. Voices bombarded her mind, varying in volume and topic and pitch and making her reel in her seat. Her eyes rolled up in her head at the cacophony. It was nearly too much to take in.

Beside her, Mary watched with a smug smirk tugging her lips as the alien jewellery helped cement her hold on the young woman’s mind.

 

“Luna, are you alright?” Vera asked concernedly as her female employer’s mouth suddenly turned down unhappily. The blonde seer looked up at the vampire and shook her head.

“It's nothing I didn’t expect, Vera,” she said quietly, blue eyes clear and focused for once. “I had hoped it was changeable, but there is nothing to be done now.” Uncertain, Vera looked over at Lukas where the werewolf was wiping down the bar. He shrugged and Vera placed a hand on Luna’s back lightly before returning to sweeping the floor.

Luna bit her lip and blinked her eyes rapidly to prevent tears forming, and picked up her pen to continue stocktaking.

 

Toshiko ripped the pendant off her neck and half-threw it onto the table, pressing back into her seat as Mary apologised for the thought she had heard. Something in Toshiko cried out that it was a lie, that it was a trick, but as Mary continued talking that little something was smothered and pushed aside.

“Sometimes you just can’t control…”  
“I know,” Tosh interrupted, eyeing the pendant warily. “It's fine.” That half-smile was on Mary’s face again, but Toshiko wasn’t paying attention to the smugness in the blonde woman’s eyes. “Where did you get it?”

“It's…been in the family a long time.” Tosh very nearly lunged forwards as she reached for the pendant, picking it up and turning to face Mary.

“I've never seen anything like it! It's incredible!”

“It's more than incredible. With this you can read peoples’ minds! It levels the pitch between man and God,” Mary’s voice was earnest, compelling, and Toshiko’s eyes were drawn back down to the small pendant in her hand.

“Is it alien?”

“I guess,” Mary shrugged, leaning back a little. She didn’t meet Tosh’s eyes as she spoke, but the tech genius wasn’t paying attention to anything except the pendant. Tosh held it out towards her slightly, and Mary leant back further. “No, I want you to keep it.”

“What?” Tosh asked incredulously, but she was already drawing her offered hand back towards her body. “I can’t, Mary.”

“Please,” Mary said mildly. “I've…kept it too long.” She shook her head a little. “After a while, it gets…you hear too much. It changes how you see people.”

“I'll have to show it to the others,” Tosh said quietly. She knew she had to – an unrecognisable alien pendant which allowed you to read minds? Of course she had to show the others!

Mary snorted softly and took a sip of her wine.

“What?” Tosh wanted to know.

“Nothing,” Mary half-laughed. “Just I bet you don’t.”

“And you know this from finding my CV on the internet?” Tosh’s tone clearly showed her disbelief.

“No, because I know the pendant.”

“Well, you're wrong, because I will,” Tosh smiled. A small part of her wondered why she was flirting with this woman, but she ignored it. Mary laughed.

“Yeah?” she asked, just as disbelieving as Tosh had been moments earlier. “Bet you won’t.”

 

Gwen looked down at the journals her mother had given her on her twenty-first birthday, wondering again why she had been given the grimy old parchment-filled books. She'd never read them – why bother reading about some unimportant ancestor’s crops or whatever? – but for some reason she had been thinking of them a lot lately. Ever since she'd joined Torchwood, the journals would come to mind at random moments. It was getting to the point where it was driving her mad, and so she had dug out the small old trunk they were kept in.

Deciding that she might as well see what was so important about them that they'd lasted this long, Gwen lifted one of the journals out of the trunk and opened it to the first page. It was written in old Welsh – something her mother had insisted she learn as a child – and she deciphered it as she went.

_Beltane, 593_

_I met Mother’s Fae today. He looks like any other human, but there is an aura about him which calls to me. He said I was pretty, and told Mother that he would return on the morrow to speak with me about something of great importance…_

 

Tosh walked briskly into the tourist office hiding the Hub entrance, reaching over the desk to press the button which would open the passage to the elevator. As she stood waiting for the door to open, one hand dipped into her bag and gripped the pendant she had been given at the bar. She pulled it out to look at it, and then quickly tucked her hand behind her back as Ianto walked out from the passageway and smiled at her.

“Good morning,” he greeted her, looking a little pale and thin.

“Yeah, hi, Ianto,” she replied awkwardly, stiltedly. Ianto didn’t seem to notice, walking behind the desk and through the beaded curtain hiding the small office and stairwell. Toshiko waited until he was out of sight before she glanced down at the pendant once more. She bit her lip, considering, and then clasped it around her neck and hurried down to the Hub.

 _‘What the hell would produce a perfect circular puncture?’_ Owen’s thoughts drifted into Tosh’s mind as the cog door rolled back and she stepped into the Hub. _‘Maybe some kind of wooden stake…’_ He looked up and saw her. “Hey Tosh.” _‘She better not go into one about her computer again.’_

“Morning,” Gwen called, and Tosh looked over towards her. The woman’s slightly malicious thoughts about a ‘friend’ pushed to the forefront over Owen’s.

“I've got something to show you,” Tosh said loud enough for Owen to hear her as well as Gwen, putting her bag down.

“Sure,” the doctor responded, but his thoughts weren’t nearly so mild. _‘I hope it's not another one of those slideshows about the Incas or whatever.’_

“Morning, Tosh,” Harry said with a smile as he wandered over, distracting her from Owen’s nasty internal commentary. He frowned a little when he saw her face. “Are you alright? You look a bit peaky,” he added with a concerned look on his face. Tosh tried to focus in on his thoughts, and was taken aback when she heard nothing from him.

“I…I'm fine,” she replied belatedly, giving a quick, half-hearted smile. Harry didn’t look convinced, but didn’t press the issue. “I found this thing…” she trailed off as Gwen’s thoughts distracted her.

 _‘Oh, sweetheart, the jeans in boots thing has kind of had its day.’_ Anger flashed in Tosh’s eyes, and Harry rested a hand on her shoulder to draw her attention back to him.

“Tosh, are you sure you're alright?” She nodded, eyes flicking between Gwen and Owen – she really didn’t want or need to hear about their sex life – and flashed another quick, small smile at Harry. “So what is it you wanted to show us?” Toshiko hesitated, and changed her mind about the pendant.

“I found this article,” she half-lied, gathering together a couple of files from her desk. “I'll bring it in tomorrow.” Harry nodded, concern still visible on his features, and smiled at her before heading off to do whatever it was Jack had assigned him to do.

 

_Hey, little sister. Tosh is acting strange – do you know anything about it? H._

_Harry. Don’t worry about it. L._

Harry frowned down at the vague text message he'd just received from Luna, and then shook his head and looked back at his research. If Tosh displayed more odd behaviour he'd take the matter to Ianto or Jack, but until that stage he would just keep an eye on her. Luna’s message worried him, and he didn’t want anything to happen to the woman his little sister had her eye on.

 

Ianto was cleaning up after lunch when the first hunger pains hit him. He was hard pressed not to show it, a little surprised that he hadn’t noticed it building until it was gnawing away at him, making him feel weak and sore all over.

 _‘You'd think I hadn’t eaten in years,’_ he thought to himself. _‘The pain is constant. It's like my stomach’s full of rats, eating away at me from the inside.’_ He glanced up to find staring at him with wide eyes, her fingers locked around an odd, abstract pendant he hadn’t seen her wear before. He straightened from where he had bent over to retrieve a coffee cup, and smiled at his young human friend.

“I'm about to brew some of Jack’s industrial strength coffee,” he informed her. “Would you like a cup?”

“I'm…I'm fine, thanks, Ianto,” she half-whispered, looked pained. Ianto nodded and turned to continue picking up the dishes from lunch, considering talking to Harry about some nourishment. He also wondered what was wrong with Tosh as he walked off, frowning ever-so-slightly to himself.

 

Harry looked up when Tosh said his name, green eyes quickly taking in her nervous stance and white-knuckled grip on something he couldn’t see.

“What is it, Toshiko?” he asked gently, and Toshiko swallowed before glancing about. Harry frowned. “Do you want to go for a pastry run?” Relief flit across the woman’s face and she nodded, and Harry smiled as he stood and stretched. “Just let me tell the others, alright?”

A few minutes later, walking down the street towards one of the better bakeries in the area, Harry glanced sideways at his sister’s love-interest.

“So what has you worried, Tosh?” She twisted her hands – still holding onto something he couldn’t see – and then held out one fist towards him with a pendant on a thick tarnished gold chain dangling from it. Harry glanced at her desperate face and back at the pendant, and then his eyes darkened. He took it from her and put it straight into a quickly-transfigured lead-lined box, tucking the box in her handbag.

“Thank you,” Toshiko whispered gratefully, her shoulders relaxing and a real smile forming on her face for the first time all day. Harry smiled back at her and gave her ponytail a light, teasing tug.

“You're welcome, luv. Where did you get it?” Tosh opened her mouth to reply, but her throat closed up and she shut it again, shaking her head and pleading with Harry with her eyes. Harry sighed. “I should have expected that,” he muttered. “I'll tell you what we'll do…”

 

Tosh was not impressed and not entirely surprised to see Mary sitting on the stone wall opposite her apartment building as she walked towards her home.

“Might have known you'd have my address as well,” she half-snapped, feeling more than a little bitter. She would have preferred not to know that Ianto was in constant pain, or how badly Owen and Gwen thought of her. When she didn’t know, at least she could hope they didn’t think so badly of her.

“Did you tell them?” Mary asked, ignoring Toshiko’s greeting (or lack thereof). There was a decidedly smug look on her face.

“No, I didn’t,” Tosh snarled, and stalked across the road to her apartment. She didn’t notice that her door didn’t shut properly behind her, not until it shut loudly and she spun to see Mary standing there.

“What made you change your mind?” the blonde asked, and Toshiko glared at her. After her walk with Harry and spending most of the afternoon with the pendant firmly tucked away out of reach, Tosh knew that there was something not quite right about the woman. “You listened to them, didn’t you?” Mary sounded delighted. Toshiko whirled and pointed her Torchwood-issue handgun at the blonde woman.

“Get out,” she demanded. “I don’t know who you are or what you want, and I don’t care. Get out.” Mary looked taken aback for a moment, and held her hands up in a placatory gesture.

“Alright, so my name isn’t Mary. It's Philoctetes. I'm Philoctetes.”

“Pull the other one,” Tosh snapped, but her determination was wavering. Mary – Philoctetes – whoever she was – saw it and smiled.

“I'm being serious, Toshiko. Put the gun down.” Tosh hesitated. Finally, though, she lowered the weapon.

“Why did you give me that pendant?”

“Because I need your help.”

“With what?”

“I need you to get me into Torchwood.”

 

Toshiko glanced sideways at Mary as she hesitated outside the door to the tourist office. She had convinced Mary that the best way to get her into Torchwood would be for the newest member, Harry, to help.

“Where is this Harry person?” Mary asked, looking a little suspicious.

“I'm Harry,” the man in question said calmly, walking up almost completely silently. “And you are…?”

“Mary,” the blonde gave a flirty smile. Harry’s neutral facial expression didn’t change.

“Pleasure. Tosh, why don’t you head on down first? You know the codes better than I do,” he smiled disarmingly at Mary when she looked uncertain. “I don’t think you'd want to alert the others, am I right?” Mary nodded, glancing around and then looking into the tourist office when Toshiko walked inside. Harry glanced down at his watch, humming quietly to himself. Three minutes passed before he nodded to himself and looked up at Mary. “Come on, then. Don’t want to get caught, do we?” he winked and grinned cheekily, and then led the way inside.

 

“Hey, Tosh, where's the fire?” Owen called jokingly as Tosh raced down the stairs leading from the tourist office upstairs. Tosh ignored him as she very nearly ran over to Jack and Ianto, who were examining the claw-like object they'd found with the body.

“Jack, Ianto, I need your help,” she rushed out. Both blue-eyed men looked surprised and concerned. “There's this alien, she gave me a pendant that lets you read minds, she wanted to use me to get into Torchwood,” Tosh babbled. “Harry helped me trick her and we need to capture her.”

“Whoa, Toshiko, calm down,” Jack soothed, gripping her shoulder. “Where is she and where is this pendant you mentioned?”

“The pendant’s in my bag, but Harry is keeping an eye on Mary – the alien – and he's going to bring her down here so we can catch her.”

“How are we supposed to do that? What type of alien is she?”

“She's in human form but she showed me what she really looks like – she's partially transparent, glows, has long tentacle-like appendages off her back and the back of her head, and she uses telepathy. I think–”

“The device we found is a transporter – she was a prisoner,” Jack frowned. “Ianto, Tosh, help Harry keep this Mary occupied. Owen, Gwen, keep out of sight just in case we need you as backup.” Relief spread across Tosh’s face unhidden, and Jack strode off with the transporter just as the cog door started to open.

 

Harry let ‘Mary’ step into the Hub ahead of him, smirking when he saw that Ianto and Toshiko were waiting. Tosh was fighting hard against the compulsion the alien had spun, and succeeding enough that having support made a huge difference in how much she was defying Mary. Owen, Gwen and Jack were nowhere to be seen, but a subtle pulse of magic revealed to him that Jack was near Tosh’s workstation, while Owen and Gwen were ‘hiding’ down in the medical bay/autopsy room.

Mary’s face changed from smug smirk to angry snarl, and her eyes darted around wildly in search of an escape route.

“Calm yourself,” Ianto said firmly, eyes fixed on the non-human woman beside his green-eyed lover. “You are here for the transporter.” It wasn’t a question, but Mary still nodded as if it was. Ianto kept his sometimes-unnerving blue eyes on her for a moment longer, and then nodded as if coming to a decision. “Very well.”

“What's the catch?” Mary asked suspiciously, eyes darting around the cavernous room once more.

“No catch,” Toshiko replied, shaking her head. Mary didn’t look like she believed it.

“So where is it?” she demanded, narrowing her eyes suspiciously when none of the three moved or spoke. “Where is it?”

“Is this what you're looking for?” Jack called, holding up the transporter. Mary froze, eyes fixed on the claw-like alien device. “You know, this is a two-man transporter. One section for a prisoner, one for a guard. So…what happened to the guard?” Mary smirked, all masks falling. “Did you kill him?”

“Yes, I killed him,” she said, as cavalier as can be. Ianto and Toshiko moved aside as she sauntered past them and towards Jack, Harry stealthily moving towards the table which held numerous sharp objects and a bare space where the transporter used to be. “And then a human girl interrupted me so I took her over. But then the soldier came too. He shot me, so I used my new human hand to pluck out his heart.”

“And you’ve been doing the same ever since,” Tosh breathed, horrified. Ianto’s eyes narrowed in a glare at the blonde. Mary didn’t respond to Tosh’s words, but moved so fast she blurred out of sight to grab Harry and hold a blade to his throat.

“Fuck!” Harry spat, fuming and completely ignoring the blade to his throat. “I'm getting slow.” Ianto very nearly snorted.

“Give me the transporter, or I'll slit his throat,” Mary threatened. Harry felt like rolling his eyes. It wasn’t like a slash across the throat would kill him.

Unfortunately, no one else knew that (not even Ianto, surprisingly. Harry made a mental note to tell him ASAP.)

“Please, let him go,” Tosh begged, looking to be near tears. Harry cast a small smile her way, not showing any fear or apprehension in an attempt to calm her. It worked just a little, as no tears actually formed or fell.

“Give me the transporter first,” Mary demanded, eyes darting from Jack to Ianto, Ianto to Tosh, and then from Tosh back to Jack. She pressed the blade a little harder against Harry’s throat, making a drop of blood well up and slide down his neck. Harry held completely still, ignoring the sting from the cut.

“Alright!” Jack half-shouted, making the pressure let up. “Alright. The transporter for Harrison.” Mary’s lips twisted into a smug smirk, and she loosened her grip on Harry as Jack moved closer.

She gave a yell as Harry moved swiftly, gripping her arm tight and ducking under and around to wedge her hand behind her back. The blade clattered to the floor, and Jack leapt forward to shove the transporter against her.

“I reprogrammed it for you,” he smirked. “It's set to enable.” Mary screamed as she turned into light and disappeared with the transporter, leaving a sluggishly-bleeding Harry standing before his boss with an eyebrow rising on his forehead.

“Where did you send her, then?” Harry asked calmly a moment later, tugging his sleeve over his hand and pressing it to the small cut on his throat.

“Right to the centre of the sun,” Jack smirked back at him. “It shouldn’t hurt her – I mean it is night-time and all,” he grinned, and Harry snorted.

“Well, now that that’s done, where is this pendant you spoke of?” Ianto asked, turning to face Tosh. The woman reached into her handbag and withdrew a small metal box, passing it to him. Ianto held up the small pendant, examining it for a moment before looking at Jack. “Secure archives or destroy it?” he asked mildly.

“I think we'll leave that decision up to Toshiko,” Jack shrugged, grinning at Tosh’s stunned look. The three men waited for her decision, and Tosh thought about it.

“This is possibly the most powerful piece of technology we've ever found,” she said quietly, reaching out and taking the necklace from Ianto to take a closer look. “It could topple governments, change the world…” She dropped it to the ground and crushed it beneath her heel. “But humans aren’t responsible enough,” she decided matter-of-factly. Harry and Ianto both smiled proudly at the young woman.

 

Luna laughed gaily and pulled her phone from her pocket, dialling a number quickly. The receiver was quick to answer.

_“Hello?”_

“Hello, Harry,” Luna smiled. “I'm taking Toshiko home tonight. I'll collect her from the Plas in ten minutes.” Harry’s laughter came through clearly.

_“Alright then, Luna, I'll let her know. See you later.”_

“Of course.” Luna smiled as she hung up her phone and skipped out of the pub, going down a nearby alleyway to apparate. Toshiko was safe.

 

Harry was chuckling as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.

“Tosh, Luna said she's taking you home tonight. She'll meet you on the Plas,” he told the woman, who blushed hotly.

“Tosh? Could I speak to you?” Gwen asked, interrupting the gentle teasing. Toshiko was startled, but then nodded and followed the woman a few metres away to where Owen was standing awkwardly. “When did you have this…ability?” Tosh was a little confused, but then realised she was talking about the pendant-induced telepathy.

“Just today,” she assured the other woman.

“What did you hear?” Owen demanded, looking somewhere between irritated and furious.

“Just a lot of noise, a few emotions, references I wouldn’t understand…”

“Yeah, right, and the rest?” Gwen was silent, letting Owen ask.

“The rest was none of my business,” Toshiko said quietly.

“No, it wasn’t,” Owen snapped, and stormed off. Tosh felt a surge of anger, but held her tongue. It would be useless to say that they all knew he and Gwen were shagging as soon as it had happened. Instead, she attempted to smooth things over with Gwen.

“I don’t know where this leaves us,” she started hesitantly.

“Me neither,” Gwen shrugged. “We can’t really take the moral high-ground with this. This thing between me and Owen…”

“No, Gwen, what I did was an invasion. I wasn’t in control, I realise that now. Either way, I can’t…I have to live with this. Not with what I heard, but what I did to you.”

“And…my betrayal?” Gwen asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I'm living with mine. This should be my wakeup call. I should stop, but I won’t. What does that say about me?”

“I'm not really in a position to make judgements.”

“This is what I'm saying, Tosh,” Gwen insisted. “Neither am I.” Tosh nodded, and Gwen left the Hub.

 

“You'd think by now she'd realise that by cheating on her partner she isn’t exactly endearing herself to the rest of us,” Harry commented quietly as he came to stand beside Toshiko. He glanced at her with a faint smile. “Is something bothering you?” he asked as Ianto walked over.

“Why couldn’t I hear you?” Tosh blurted after a moment, and Harry grinned. “I'm serious! I could hear everyone except you and Jack. Both of your thoughts were impossible for me to decode.”

“I don’t know about Jack, but I spent time around telepaths when I was younger. I learned to build up mental shields to prevent anyone from reading me,” Harry assured the young technician. Toshiko nodded and accepted that, although she did wonder how he could have done so. Then she recalled something else and turned her head to look at Ianto. He raised an eyebrow in query, and Tosh found herself blushing in shame. Ianto put his arm over her shoulders and gave a gentle squeeze.

“What do you want to know, Tosh?” he asked softly, and Toshiko gathered her courage to ask.

“Why are you so hungry?” she murmured, and Harry growled from her other side. Toshiko flinched, but then realised belatedly that he was glaring at Ianto and not at her.

“I thought I told you to let me know when you get too hungry!” he snapped, and Ianto ducked his head sheepishly.

“Sorry, I was more focused on making sure I had done everything,” he admitted, and Harry sighed.

“That’s it; I'm making sure you eat tonight. Thanks for letting me know, Tosh,” he added with a wink to the startled woman, making her smile. “Now, I think it's about the time you're to meet with Luna, right?” Tosh blushed. “Go on. Get some sleep and we'll see you tomorrow.” Toshiko nodded, and feeling much better she gathered her things and left the Hub.

 

Luna was waiting for her by the water tower, smiling happily at her and giving her a hug in greeting.

“I'm glad you went to Harry for help,” the small blonde murmured, slipping her fingers between Toshiko’s. The taller woman smiled faintly.

“How do you know all this?”

“I'm a Seer, remember?” Luna giggled, and pushed up on her toes to kiss Tosh’s cheek. “I ordered pizza. Come home with me?” Tosh looked down at the shorter woman for a few long seconds, and then smiled and leant down to shyly kiss her lips.

“I'd like that,” she admitted. Luna beamed at her and tugged Toshiko along behind her as she skipped – literally – towards the road to flag down a taxi. Tosh couldn’t help but laugh as she followed the quirky woman.

 

“So, Jack, have any plans for tonight?” Harry murmured into the taller man’s ear as he leant over him and loosely wrapped his arms around his shoulders. Jack leant back slightly, sighing when Harry nibbled his earlobe.

“I didn’t have any,” he admitted, humming when Ianto leant over his desk and kissed him firmly. “Why, did you have something in mind?” he asked teasingly when Ianto let him breathe.

“Mhm,” Harry murmured, his breath hot against Jack’s neck. “Care to join in on those plans?” Jack made a show of thinking about it, and then nodded.

The three men left together, heading straight for Ianto’s apartment and his rather large bed.

 

Toshiko didn’t know why, but she was feeling rather daring tonight. The relief of being free of the pendant, grouped with the obvious attraction Luna had for her and the attraction she felt for Luna, made her almost giddy.

So when Luna slipped a hand under her shirt, she didn’t pull back. Luna’s tongue flicked across the seam of her lips, and Toshiko parted her lips with a soft sigh. She didn’t resist as Luna lightly pushed her back, letting herself lay flat along the couch with Luna pressed to her front.

They kissed for what felt like hours, Toshiko laying mostly passive and letting Luna map out the inside of her mouth with her agile tongue. Luna’s small hands stroked Tosh’s skin beneath her shirt lightly, finding all the most sensitive points and getting small gasps and moans from the shy technician. Luna drew back finally, looking down seriously at the taller woman.

“Bedroom?” Toshiko gasped before Luna could speak, and a brilliant smile lit the petite blonde’s face. She stood and helped Toshiko off the couch, leading her by the hand to her bedroom.

 

Ianto was only slightly surprised when Harry took control as soon as they walked through his front door. He wasn’t complaining though. It was hard to do so with someone else’s tongue in his mouth, but he wouldn’t have complained even if he could.

He could feel Harry against his thigh and Jack against his back, and tried to steer them to the bedroom. He didn’t manage too well, because Harry pulled back after bumping into the wall and swore before grabbing him by the belt and Jack by the wrist, towing them both to the bedroom.

He spun and shoved Jack down, very nearly tearing his shirt as he wrestled the buttons undone. Ianto stripped quickly and then helped Harry undo his and Jack’s buttons, knowing that if the wizard had to wait much longer he would end up magicking their clothes away (which would put a damper on their activities as Jack would want to know what the hell he had done and how he had done it). Their clothes were strewn across the room messily within a minute, and after grinding down on Jack briefly Harry all but tackled Ianto to the bed and started kissing him again.

A good three hours later Ianto felt much better than he had in weeks, and pressed a kiss to Harry’s temple in thanks before he nestled down between his two lovers and drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was supposed to be more of a sex scene at the end there, but Tosh was shy and the boys just weren't cooperating with me at all -_-
> 
> Next chapter will be up ASAP, but that could be anywhere between a week and three months so don't hold your breath.


	12. Stupidity and Pranks

 

A scream rang out through the Hub, startling three of the other five team members. Ianto and Harry exchanged smug smirks, and then schooled their facial expressions to innocent confusion before the others could look at them and see their smirks.

Gwen, the source of the scream, stormed up from her desk to the meeting room. As soon as she walked in, Tosh burst into giggles which only increased when Gwen glared at her.

“I…I'm sorry,” she gasped out, “But you look so ridiculous!”

Gwen had bright orange skin, dark green hair, blue swirls all over her visible skin, and she was covered head to toe in glitter.

“What happened?” Owen blurted, his shock evident.

“What does it look like?!” Gwen shrieked. Ianto flinched at the high pitch and the volume, and Harry rubbed at his ears with a sour look on his face.

“Who did this?” Jack asked with a sigh, looking from face to face. Ianto and Harry had perfectly sincere, confused and curious looks on their faces, and both Tosh and Owen shrugged while Gwen continued to fume.

“It might have been something we brought back recently,” Tosh suggested.

“True,” Harry nodded in agreement. “There're all sorts of things out there. Hell, it might not even have been alien. You might have pissed off one of the terrestrial non-humans,” he added.

“Such as?” Owen drawled.

“Well, you already know of the _aes sídhe_ , but this isn’t their style. I know Cornish pixies are right little terrors, but they're more likely to physically attack rather than prank,” Harry mused, not seeing the disbelieving looks he was getting from Gwen, Owen and Jack. Toshiko looked curious and Ianto was just a little amused. “The tylwyth teg don’t interact with humans often, and when they do it's not to pull pranks. Um…fairies are useless or anything more than decorations; they just don’t have the brain power to pull something like this off. Gnomes keep to overgrown gardens and they're more likely to swear and bite. To be honest, this looks more like something my adoptive brothers would do,” Harry admitted with a shrug. He didn’t have to tell them that it was his adoptive brothers’ prank products which had given Gwen the sparkly Oompa Loompa look.

“Hold on,” Owen said finally. “You're telling me all those things actually exist?”

“Um, yes?” Harry blinked. “So do creatures like giants, goblins, vampires, werewolves…”

“I think they get the idea, Harry,” Ianto interrupted. Harry shook himself and smiled sheepishly.

“Werewolves and vampires? Seriously?” Toshiko asked curiously. Harry grinned brightly at her.

“Ask Luna. If she's as serious about you as I think she is, she'll tell you.” Tosh blushed but smiled to herself, fairly glowing with happiness. Harry looked to Jack. “I'll tell you more later. Unfortunately, I don’t trust Owen and Gwen just yet.” At the offended noises from the two, Harry turned a glare on them. “Both of you can shut up. You’ve done nothing to earn my trust. When I feel I can trust you, I'll tell you, but not until then. _Deal with it._ ” Ianto nudged Harry’s knee with his, calming the wizard, and Harry relaxed back into his chair with an incoherent grumble.

“Gwen, why don’t you go see if the colour will wash off?” Ianto suggested, getting a dirty look from the woman for his trouble.

“Gwen, just go,” Jack ordered. “We'll figure it out later, just get yourself cleaned up before you leave glitter everywhere.” Gwen scowled and stalked away, leaving a trail of glitter behind her. Ianto sighed quietly and stood.

“I'll get the mop.”

 

Ianto walked silently through the corridor leading to the archives, leafing absently through the papers in his hands. He glanced over his shoulder when he felt a light touch to his back, and frowned when he saw nothing. A soft, familiar laugh sounded, and Ianto’s eyebrows rose when Harry appeared out from under a silvery cloak.

“Invisibility cloak,” Harry explained, draping the material over his arm and smiling at Ianto cheekily.  “It comes in handy.”

“So I see. Is there a problem?”

“Not really,” Harry shrugged, falling into step with the disguised fae. “I just figured I should tell you something.”

“And that is…?”

“I can’t die,” Harry informed him seriously. “I know you can feel my life force. You know how it feels like there's too much of it?” Ianto nodded. “It's because I'm constantly drawing it from Death’s Hallows, whether I want to or not.”

“They're real?” Ianto asked in surprise. “I thought they were just a myth.”

“You should know by now that there's no such thing as ‘just’ a myth,” Harry snorted. “Yes, they're real. I came into ownership of all three when I was seventeen. I haven’t aged since, and I've been through things since which would have killed any other wizard. You’ve seen most of my scars. I hide the ones which show that I should be dead.”

“Why tell me now?” Ianto asked quietly after a moment of silence.

“Because I realised that if I get into a situation where a normal person would die, someone needs to stop the others from trying to save me and getting hurt,” Harry replied calmly. “Think about it. If you'd known that I wouldn’t die from Mary slitting my throat, would you have still kept back or would you have attacked her?”

“Immortality doesn’t mean a lack of pain, Harry,” Ianto murmured disapprovingly. Harry shrugged.

“I know. But if it meant stopping a killer or protecting someone I care about, I wouldn’t mind too much,” he admitted. “Pain is part of life. You get used to it.” Ianto knew that all too well.

“Jack’s _errêve_ feels similar to yours,” he commented instead, frowning faintly.

“I don’t think he can die either,” Harry admitted. “He actually did get shot by Kieran when we were in that village. He felt dead for a couple of seconds, but he healed and came back quickly.”

“I thought there was something different about him,” Ianto murmured. “I knew he was older than he looked, but to survive a shotgun wound and heal within seconds…”

“Something Luna said worried me, though,” Harry sighed. “She said Jack had faced a lot of pain and suffering, and that there's more to come. I…I guess I'm worried about him.”

“I think we just need to keep an eye on him and help the best we can,” Ianto replied with a frown. “If we can convince him that we want to be there.”

“You're telling me,” Harry rolled his eyes. “I'm pretty sure he's got more issues than both of us combined.”  
“Thanks for that,” Ianto said dryly, and Harry gave an apologetic smile before putting his cloak back on.

“I do care about both of you, you know,” the invisible wizard murmured, his breath brushing lightly across Ianto’s cheek and ear. Ianto nodded, and continued on his way.

 

“Owen, Harry, the Weevils need feeding and the cells need cleaning. Get to it,” Jack smirked at the two, getting a groan from Owen and a mild glare from Harry. They headed down to the cells without protest, though, and Harry tilted his head with a smirk when the oldest Weevil – Janet – backed away whining.

It seemed like she knew he could hold his own against her kind. He had thought she was one of the smarter ones. Good. If she ever got it in her mind to try and escape, she would think twice about going after him and those with his scent on them. He would dare any Weevil to attack him and see how far they got.

Now Owen had known ever since he met Harry Potter that there was something weird about the guy. There was also something familiar about him, which was even weirder since Owen was pretty sure he'd never met or seen him before he joined Torchwood. It was really bugging him that he couldn’t figure out where he'd seen him before or why he seemed so strange.

It wasn’t until he was sent down to the Weevil cells with Harry that he realised what it was. As soon as Harry stepped in front of the glass, Janet backed away making a strange whining noise. Harry barely glanced at the Weevil, but when he did Owen was certain he saw a challenge in those strange bright green eyes.

And suddenly Owen remembered.

“You growled at a Weevil a couple of years back and made it back down,” he blurted, and Harry paused in mid-step to turn towards him with a slight frown.

“How do you know that?” he asked warily.

“I got sent out to capture it, but it got to you before I got to it,” Owen shrugged. “Saw you take it down and growl at it, and then it backed off. How’d you do it?”

“Magic,” Harry deadpanned, and smirked at Owen’s scowl before turning back to their tasks.

As soon as Owen’s back was turned, he pointed discreetly at the man and murmured a w simple spells under his breath. A ‘kick me’ sign appeared on the cynical doctor’s back, and a mild compulsion added to the words to prompt whoever read it to do as it said. It would make things interesting when they got back upstairs to the others.

 

Tosh glanced up as Owen walked past her desk, and her eyes caught sight of a sign on his back that read ‘Kick Me’. She giggled, and clamped down firmly on the urge to do as the sign said. Owen turned to ask what she was laughing at, and then yelped when Gwen kicked him in the rear almost immediately.

“What the bloody hell was that for?” he demanded, whirling back around to face a surprised-looking Gwen. She stammered and stuttered, and Ianto calmly kicked Owen in the ankle as he walked past. Toshiko started laughing louder, trying to muffle it in her hands. Harry winked at her cheekily, and she lost her battle to keep calm, breaking into peals of laughter that rang throughout the Hub. Gwen and Owen stared at her as if she was insane, but she didn’t care.

Jack sauntered up, attracted by the unusual sound of laughter, and then raised an eyebrow when he saw the back of Owen’s lab coat.

“Owen, why do you have a sign on your back that says ‘kick me’?” he asked calmly. Owen whirled.

“What?”

“You have a ‘kick-me’ sign on your back,” Gwen clarified, visibly struggling to _not_ kick him again. Owen reached over his shoulder and felt around, grabbing the paper and ripping it off his coat. He stared at the sign for a moment, then crumpled it in his fist and turned a deadly glare on Harry. The green-eyed man grinned and wriggled his fingers at the doctor, laughing and fleeing as Owen started chasing after him.

 

“Thank you,” Tosh smiled across at Harry a few hours later. The green-eyed man turned his face to her and raised an eyebrow in question. “Thank you for what you did to Gwen and Owen. I appreciate it.”

“I don’t know what you're talking about,” Harry sniffed as if offended. Luna giggled and leant across the table to kiss his cheek beneath his newly-formed black eye. Owen had a mean right hook, as Harry had discovered when Owen managed to catch him.

“Of course you don’t, Harry,” she smiled at him, and sat back beside Tosh in the booth as her ‘brother’ grinned. Tosh shyly put her arm over Luna’s shoulders, blushing slightly when Harry smirked at her and Luna settled into her side happily. “But thank you,” the blonde added with a content little sigh, and Harry’s smirk became a gentle, fond smile.

“No problem, little sister.”

A few minutes later Tosh spoke up again.

“So what was Ianto’s part in all this?”

“Backing me up, mainly,” Harry admitted with a grin. “It's his turn tomorrow.”

 

Gwen rubbed tiredly at her eyes and set down the journal she had been reading since she got home. Her many-times great-grandmother had documented some very strange things in it, and it was compelling to continue reading. Her ancestor had met a creature her mother called a ‘fae’, which had been deformed in appearance but charming and persuasive. It had asked Gwen’s ancestors to allow it to infuse its blood into her line, to allow the continuation of its kind as the rest were disappearing.

Did that mean she had the blood of this ‘fae’ in her? Is that what that freak of a blonde was talking about when she mentioned Gwen’s ancestors?

Whatever it meant, she didn’t care right now. She just wanted to know more about the alien – it had to be an alien – who had approached her ancestors.

 

Ianto smirked as he carefully dusted a powder similar in properties to Deep Heat over the insides of the gloves Owen would first use in the morning. The doctor never checked the insides of his gloves – why would he? – and Ianto was looking forward to the reaction he'd have when the powder kicked in. On an area as sensitive as the tips of the fingers, the powder would burn rather than give a gentle heat, and water wouldn’t help much.

He had a different plan for Gwen. She didn’t use anything he could put the powder on, but Harry had given him a way to contact the Weasley twins Fred and George to get some extra-strong itching powder from them. That was also where he'd purchased the heat powder.

He'd put some of the itching powder on Gwen’s chair, keyboard, files and desk, and make sure it wasn’t visible. Her reaction would be brilliant.

He'd just have to make sure he kept it out of her eyes. It would be a bitch to stop if it got in her eyes. And Gwen would be a bitch for at least a week. Not that she wasn’t a bitch most of the time anyway.

Finished with his spreading of itching and heating powder, Ianto wrapped himself in shadows and disappeared back to his apartment.

 

“Grandma,” eight-year-old Teddy said thoughtfully, gaining Andromeda’s attention. “Can I go visit Uncle Harry and Aunty Luna?” Andromeda sighed in resignation at the puppy-eyed pout she was given from the young metamorphmagus.

“I don’t know, Teddy. I'll ask,” she promised her grandson, ruffling his turquoise hair with a fond smile. “Why don’t you go find your Charms book and I'll ask Fleur if Victoire can go with you?”

“Okay!” Teddy chirped happily, dashing off to his bedroom to find the book in question. Andromeda smiled and called quietly for a house elf.

 


	13. Objective: Keep Suzie Dead

  **Chapter Thirteen**  


“I’M GOING TO BLOODY KILL YOU!”

Harry and Ianto looked to each other with wide eyes at Owen’s yell, before turning tail and bolting for the cog door. Owen stormed up from the autopsy bay with a furious scowl on his face, squeezing a towel between both hands.

“What happened?” Tosh asked in shock, brown eyes wide. Harry and Ianto’s retreat left the Hub nearly empty, as Gwen had gone to have a quick shower due to an intense urge to scratch.

“Those bastards put Deep Heat in all my gloves!” Owen snarled. “I’m going to _kill_ them!”

“Owen, calm down,” Jack ordered as he strode down from his office. “Where are Harry and Ianto?” he asked with a frown, looking around.

“They bolted,” Tosh shrugged, gesturing towards the now-closed giant cog which sealed the passage to the elevator. “They’re probably waiting upstairs,” she added when Jack frowned irritably. “What’s the problem?” she asked worriedly.

“I’ll tell you on the way. Where’s Gwen?”

“Showers,” Owen grouched. “She was complaining about being itchy.”

“Great,” Jack muttered under his breath. “Tosh, Owen, go get the SUV ready and bring it around.” The two nodded and went off.

 

Harry glared at Ianto mildly when they reached the tourist office upstairs.

“You know, you could have at least warned me what you were going to do,” he huffed, and Ianto shrugged.

“It wouldn’t have been as effective if you were waiting for his reaction. Think he’ll shoot me or just give me some sort of alien virus?” Ianto asked flippantly. Harry snorted.

“I’d suggest watching your back, just in case,” he replied dryly. The door to the passage opened, causing both of them to turn to face it quickly. They both relaxed when they realised it was only Jack. He, however, looked far from relaxed.

“Ianto, you’re with me. Harry, stay here and keep an eye on the Rift. We’ve been called.”

“Called?” Harry heard Ianto ask as he nodded and headed back down to the Hub.

“Detective Kathy Swanson called me. Said there was something we had to see,” Jack replied to his second-in-command with a frown still on his face. “Did you put Deep Heat in Owen’s gloves?”

“No,” Ianto replied honestly. It wasn’t Deep Heat, it was a powder with similar properties. “I know he thinks so, but I did not put Deep Heat in his gloves.”

“You did put something in his gloves though, didn’t you?” Jack asked, but his lips were twitching up at the corners. Ianto smirked.

“Of course. I wasn’t about to let him go with just Harry’s kick-me sign after the stress he caused Toshiko.” Jack just nodded. “We’re done with the revenge now,” Ianto added. “Both Harry and I think they’ve had enough.”

“So Gwen’s mishap yesterday was your fault too,” Jack surmised.

“That was all Harry,” Ianto corrected quickly. “He had yesterday, I got today.”

“Right...” Jack shook his head. “Get moving.”

 

Harry leant back in his chair with a sigh, closing his eyes and letting his thoughts drift. He wasn’t sure why he was the one who had to stay behind with Gwen - of all people, _Gwen_ \- but he supposed he’d just have to buck up and deal with it. He could always prank her mercilessly, but he wasn’t feeling up to it. He was bored - _really_ bored.

Absently he wondered how Teddy was doing - it had been a few months since he’d last seen the little metamorphmagus whom he was godfather to, and he missed the brat. He knew, at least, that the _aes sídhe_ were protecting him - they always did so, for a promise was a serious thing between the childlike fae and their Chosen, no matter how old the Chosen in question was.

Perhaps he would ask to have Teddy for a few days around Christmas, and Victoire too if Fleur and Bill allowed it. Hell, maybe he’d ask to have all his nieces and nephews - it’s not like he couldn’t expand his apartment to have room for them all, and Luna would be more than willing to help keep them entertained and in control. Plus it would take a load off their parents if he did so.

“Where is everyone?” Gwen’s nasal voice cut through his peaceful thoughts, and he opened his eyes to stare blankly at the woman. “Well?”

“They were called out,” Harry replied neutrally, closing his eyes once more. “Obviously.”

“And why was I left behind?” the woman demanded. Harry’s eyes opened again and he half-glared at the woman.

“Because you’re one of the most inexperienced team members, and whatever this was about, it’s probably more than either of us would be capable of handling right now.”

Gwen actually stamped her foot.

“Maybe _you_ can’t, but I was on the police force before Torchwood.”

“And I was fighting a civil war - which I won - from the time I was fifteen!” Harry retorted sharply, more than a little fed up with the woman. “That doesn’t mean we’re capable of being anything more than a nuisance to the rest if this happens to be something we haven’t seen before! Grow up and get over yourself before your ego gets you killed,” he snapped, and turned his back on the woman to instead bring up a com link between the Hub and Toshiko.

Harry ignored Gwen’s spluttering and slipped the earpiece in his ear, tapping a few keys.

“Toshiko, can you hear me?” he asked.

 _“Perfectly,”_ the Japanese woman replied instantly. _“Any problems?”_

“No, everything’s quiet,” he replied with a smile as Gwen stormed off in a huff. “Well, except Gwen, but she’ll get over it. Need anything?”

_“No, but that might change. Keep an ear out.”_

“Will do.”

 

The Torchwood SUV screeched to a halt just outside the address they had been given, and Ianto sighed in resignation as Jack strode past the police with his usual arrogance. He exchanged a long-suffering look with Toshiko, and then headed towards the bristling, angry form of Detective Kathy Swanson as Tosh followed their boss. He needed to soothe some ruffled feathers before Jack could completely alienate one of their few allies within the police force.

“Detective,” Ianto greeted the woman with a polite smile. “I hope you are well.”

“With Harkness and the scene in there, my day couldn’t be much worse,” Kathy snorted. Ianto gave a rueful chuckle.

“I’m sorry about him,” he offered. “If I could reign him in I would.”

“I’m sure you would. This might not be one of yours, but considering what the killer did... Well, go take a look for yourself.” A frown creased Ianto’s brow, but he nodded and headed into the house his coworkers had disappeared into.

 

The scent of blood was extremely strong, growing increasingly stronger as Ianto moved closer to the bedroom of the small suburban house. When he entered the room in question, he stopped still at the state of both it and the victims. Said victims were lying on their bed, their throats slit. As Kathy moved up beside Ianto, he took in the single word written in the deceased couple’s blood on the wall above their bed.

“Looks like somebody wants your attention,” the detective pointed out, giving a glare in Jack’s general direction.

“They’ve got it,” Jack replied, all traces of arrogance and levity gone. Ianto had only rarely seen Jack so serious, and he could sense the tension and guilt his boss was feeling. Jack’s jaw was set, almost clenched, and his eyes unblinking as he stared at the foot-high letters spelling out ‘Torchwood’.

 

At the Hub, Harry was frowning as he listened to Toshiko’s quiet report via earpiece of what they had found at the crimescene.

Nothing.

Nothing non-human, anyway, or anything too advanced for the current era.

“Tell me what’s going on,” Gwen demanded for the nth time, and Harry had had enough. He spun around in his chair and practically snarled at her.

“Get the fuck out!”

 _“…what?”_ Toshiko asked worriedly through the earpiece.

“Not you, Tosh,” Harry hastily assured her. “Back in a moment.” He took out the earpiece and glared at the stubborn, irritating woman in front of him. “Get out if you’re not going to be helpful.”

“If you would just _tell me_ what was happening, then I would be able to!” Gwen huffed.

“I’m not your bloody slave! Pick up an earpiece and hear for yourself!” Ignoring the woman’s outrage, he fitted his earpiece back in and turned back to the desk to bring up the programs Tosh needed.

Really, he wished Jack would just fire the annoying, immature, arrogant woman before she got herself – or someone else – killed. Or before she pissed someone (or something) off enough for them to kill her.

 

“Jack, they’ve got the results on the killer’s hair,” Tosh informed her boss just as an officer handed a file to Kathy Swanson. “Harry, have you got them?”

 _“They’ve just come through now,”_ the green-eyed man assured her. Tosh nodded to herself and hopped out of the SUV to join her coworkers around Kathy.

“Initial findings say Caucasian male, early forties, smoker, drinks tequila,” the detective read out, shaking her head. “Doesn’t match any DNA profiles.” She glanced up at the Torchwood operatives and held up the top sheet of the papers in the file. “Only thing of interest is a compound we’ve never seen before.” Owen reached over and took hold of the page, hesitating long enough for the detective to let go before bringing it close enough to read. “Recognise it?”

“Uh-oh, we’re in trouble,” Owen stated bluntly.

“What is it?” Ianto asked.

“Compound B67,” Owen replied, just as Harry stated the same.

“You’re kidding.”

 _“Retcon,”_ Harry responded to Jack’s statement, voice grim.

“He’s got Retcon in his blood,” Owen added just as grimly.

“We need to get back to the Hub,” Ianto muttered. They made their excuses and left, Toshiko already firing instructions at Harry through her earpiece.

 

“B67, a.k.a. Retcon, a.k.a. the magic ingredient of the amnesia pill,” Owen informed Gwen as the team gathered in the meeting room.

“And this belongs to us…” Gwen mused aloud. “Whoever this killer is, is someone we gave the amnesia pill to.” Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her stating the obvious as he entered the room with Ianto.

“Is he remembering that he’s a serial killer, or is he becoming a serial killer because of the Retcon?” Owen asked.

“Wait a minute, I’ve taken Retcon,” Gwen blurted, sounding a little panicked. Harry bit back a smile at Jack’s response.

“Then better stay away from sharp objects.” The panic on Gwen’s face was hilarious, and Harry bit his cheek to stop himself from laughing. “Ianto, how many people have we given amnesia pills to?”

“Two thousand and eight,” the dark fae replied promptly.

“Hey, what if they _all_ become psychotic?”

“Do you have to sound so happy?” Tosh asked Owen incredulously.

“Yeah I'm just _saying_.” Owen grinned. “Mean streets!”

“Tosh, narrow the list down to fit Swanson’s profile. Check them out as fast as you can,” Jack ordered. “Ianto, give her a hand. Owen, Gwen, there has to be a link between the victims – find the link, find the killer. Get to it.” He glanced at Harry. “You're with me.”

“Jack, if there is a link, why don’t we just ask the victims ourselves?” Gwen asked, and Jack leaned his hands on the table to stare the woman down.

“Not the right time for a séance, thank you very much.”

“The first time I met Torchwood, you had that glove,” Gwen persisted.

“What glove?” Harry asked Ianto quietly.

“An alien device that resurrected people briefly,” the dark fae explained briefly. “I’ll tell you more later.” Jack nodded at Ianto in thanks and turned his attention back to Gwen.

“No way,” the leader of their team said bluntly, Owen giving a slightly-nervous laugh and shaking his head.

“Not after what it did to Suzie,” Owen added.

“But it brings people back to life just for two minutes,” Gwen protested. “We could question the murder victims.”

“That’s exactly what she said. She was one of us, we trusted her, and now she’s dead because of that thing.”

“The glove stays in the safe where it belongs,” Jack decided before Gwen and Owen could continue.

“These murders are happening because of Torchwood.”

“Gwen, shut up before I shut you up,” Harry snapped, glaring at the woman as he saw the way the rest of the team froze or flinched.

“No,” Gwen glared back at Harry. “These murders are happening because of Torchwood, so Torchwood has got to do something.”

Ianto closed his eyes briefly in pain and resignation as he saw Jack give in.

 

“It fell through the Rift about 40 years ago,” Jack explained for Harry and Gwen’s benefit as he unlocked the case containing the glove in question. “It lay at the bottom of the bay until we dredged it up last year. I was figured this wasn’t just lost. Whoever made it, wanted rid of it.” He lifted the metal glove out of the box, and Harry felt a shiver go up his spine. Beside him, Ianto pressed a hand to his back briefly.

“You know, we never gave it a cool name,” Owen contemplated.

“I thought we were calling it the resurrection gauntlet,” Tosh disagreed.

“ _Cool_ name,” Owen repeated pointedly.

“How about the ‘Risen Mitten’?” Ianto asked dryly. Owen gave a little scoff as everyone else looked at Ianto. The dark fae shrugged. “I think it’s catchy.” Harry snorted.

 

Down in the autopsy bay, Owen, Gwen and Jack were standing around the body of the first victim. Up the stairs a bit stood Ianto and Harry, the wizard frowning at the glove and moving a little closer to Ianto. Tosh was at her desk, waiting for Jack’s cue.

“Can you hear it?” he asked softly, and the fae nodded. “What…?”

“I don’t know,” Ianto murmured back as Gwen and Jack spoke briefly to each other. “But I don’t like it.” He caught the stopwatch Jack tossed his way.

“Now remember, two minutes was the maximum because Suzie had practice. The most we can hope for is thirty seconds,” Jack reminded them. “Tosh, you ready?”

“Ready and recording,” the tech genius confirmed. “This man was victim number one, name Alex Arwyn.” Jack put his gloved hand to Alex’s head, shut his eyes and concentrated.

Nothing happened.

“Maybe someone else should try?” Harry suggested after about thirty seconds of absolutely nothing. “Not me,” he added hastily when everyone looked at him.

“We all tried it last time, and it only responded to Suzie,” Owen explained.

“Well I never had a go,” Gwen pointed out.

“This is going to end so badly,” Harry muttered to Ianto as Jack passed the glove over to Gwen.

“Can you destroy it?” Ianto asked in return, just as quietly.

“Probably. Want me to?”

A surge of energy from Gwen and the glove ended their conversation.

 

“That was… disturbing,” Harry whispered, shivering as Alex flatlined once more Ianto stopped the stopwatch and tugged the wizard into his arms, frowning down at the others in the autopsy bay as Harry turned away and pressed his face into his shoulder. Gwen was ranting about being able to bring the dead man back again, but when Jack stopped her they all looked to Ianto.

“Twenty-four seconds,” Ianto informed them, tossing the stopwatch down to Owen and turning away. He led Harry up to where Tosh was sitting by her computers, not wanting anything more to do with the glove.

This was far too similar to what had been happening with Suzie.

 

One resurrection later, they had more information.

Information Ianto wished they didn’t have, for all it meant they would catch the killer.

“A group called Pilgrim and a man named Max who talked to a woman called Suzie,” Jack summed up, frowning.

“It must be wrong,” Owen denied. “There must be lots of women named Suzie.”

“Not connected to this case,” Jack shook his head. “We’ve been talking to the wrong corpse.”

Ianto went to find Harry.

 

“Pilgrim,” Toshiko announced as she entered the room in which everyone else had gathered. Harry was seated beside Ianto, frowning heavily at what his friend-slash-lover had told him about the glove and Suzie. “A religious support group, more like a debating society – meaning of life, does God exist, all that stuff,” she added. “The point is it was tiny, more like a hobby, run by Mark Briscoe’s wife Sarah. She had all that stashed in the wardrobe. Handwritten and photocopied – that’s why we couldn’t find any records, she wasn’t even online.” Toshiko sounded somewhat offended by that.

“No mentions of Suzie or Max?” Jack asked.

“Not a word. She didn’t even keep a register.”

“Ah, wouldn’t be our Suzie though,” Owen protested in a lazy manner. “She wouldn’t go for that support group bollocks.”

“How would you know?” Gwen asked with a mildly incredulous tone. “I mean, were you friends? Any of you? Who was her best friend in this place?”

“She sort of… kept herself to herself,” Owen admitted.

“Well then, if she needed to talk, maybe that’s exactly where she’d go. A group of complete strangers.”

“Could be,” Jack allowed. “You got a point Gwen. Time we got to know our deceased colleague a bit better.”

Harry sat up a little straighter. Jack couldn’t mean what he thought he meant, surely…

 

Thankfully, Jack didn’t yet mean resurrecting Suzie. They took the SUV to a storage facility, and Harry rolled his eyes at Gwen’s questions.

“Have I got this right?” she began. “When I die, you get to keep all my possessions? My whole life’s going to get stashed in a locker?”

“Rules and regulations,” Jack stated in a no-nonsense tone. “Which you’d know if you read the handbook _properly_.”

“What if I leave all my stuff to Rhys?” Gwen persisted. Even Owen threw an incredulous glance her way at that.

“We’ll stash him away too,” Jack responded. Toshiko had to turn her head away a bit to hide her smile when Gwen stared at their boss with wide, incredulous eyes. The door finished opening. “Tread carefully, people. With _respect_. This is the life of Suzie Costello.”

“It’s all we are in the end,” Tosh mused. “A pile of boxes.”

A few minutes of banter and searching later, Toshiko found it.

“Jack,” she called, getting his attention and that of everyone else. She walked over and held out a familiar yellow flyer. “Pilgrim. She’s a part of it.”

“That proves it then,” Jack said bluntly. “No choice.” He nodded to himself. “It’s time Suzie came back.”

Harry felt like hitting someone.

 

“They cannot be serious!” Harry hissed to Ianto as Jack rolled the body of a young dark-haired woman into the autopsy.

“They are,” Ianto sighed quietly, shaking his head. “Are you sure you can destroy the glove?”

“Even if I can’t, I should be able to damage it enough that it’s no longer useable,” Harry scowled. His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he glanced at it quickly to see a message from Luna.

_Destroy it – all you have to do is shoot it. Suzie is a danger to all of you. L._

Harry grinned ferally, eyes glinting. Ianto raised an eyebrow at the somewhat animalistic expression on his sometimes-lover’s face.

“I just got the go-ahead from Luna,” Harry explained, and Ianto smirked briefly.

“Go on then. Before it’s too late.”

“Gladly.”

 

Gwen screamed as she reached for the glove only for it to burst into hundreds of pieces with the sound of a gunshot. Turning around quickly to find the source, the Torchwood team were met with the sight of a grim-faced Harry in the process of lowering his gun.

“Are you all idiots, or did that thing just wipe any common sense you might have had?” he snapped, sarcasm heavy in his voice.

“You just ruined our chance of finding out where to find Max!” Gwen snapped back. Harry shot her a scathing look.

“Spare me the dramatics, Cooper. That glove is not the only way to find the killer, and do you really think that resurrecting Costello would be helpful? From what I’ve heard, she went insane because of that thing.”

“You destroyed it because of that?” Jack growled.

“No, I destroyed it because it’s a foul device which should have never been made. There is only one true way to resurrect someone and that isn’t it.”

“And you know what that way is, then?” Owen asked sarcastically.

“Yes, actually,” Harry rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “If you waited five minutes longer to try and bring Costello back I would have been able to tell you that without destroying the glove to get your attention.”

“And you have access to this method?” Jack asked, his anger being mostly replaced by curiosity.

“Of course. I wouldn’t have mentioned it otherwise.”

“Get it and come down here, then.”

“On one condition,” Harry bargained. Jack raised an eyebrow. “Gwen gets out. I don’t trust her.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Gwen snapped.

“Gwen,” Jack warned, and the woman huffed. “No can do, Harrison.”

“Fine,” Harry rolled his eyes. “But if she blabs, I won’t protect her from the consequences.”

 

Harry fiddled with the ring on his right index finger, brushing a thumb over the stone as he stood beside Suzie’s cold corpse. He glanced up at his watching teammates, saw the supportive glance Ianto shot his way, and then removed the stone from the ring with a whispered unlocking phrase. He turned it three times in his hand, focusing on the woman before him and what he wanted. He wanted her visible to the others, not just himself, and he did not want her body to come back to life or he'd have to kill her all over again to get rid of her.

“Who are you?” Suzie’s ghost asked, eyeing Harry warily as it appeared at the head of her corpse. Gwen gasped theatrically, and Owen’s eyes widened. “What have you done?”

“I destroyed your little toy,” Harry replied coolly. “Who is Max and why is he killing other members of Pilgrim?”

“I don’t have to answer to you,” Suzie’s spirit snapped. Harry raised an eyebrow. “His name is Max Tresilian. He’s killing them because I set a subliminal message telling him to get Torchwood’s attention if I didn’t show up to meetings for three months or more,” she blurted, then covered her mouth. “What did you do to me?!”

“You cannot lie to me,” Harry shrugged. “And yes, you do need to answer if I ask a straight question of you. Where can Max be found? Who is his next target?”

“His next target will be Lucy McKenzie. She’s a student, blonde, works at the bar in Howling Wolf Pub. You’ll find him there when he goes after her.” The words were forced out, and Suzie glared at Harry the whole time. Behind her, the rest of the team (bar Ianto) were staring in shock.

“Thank you,” Harry’s cold expression faded to a pitying little smile. “You can go after you answer one more question. Anything we should avoid doing around Max?”

“Don’t mention Torchwood. Don’t bring him here,” Suzie ground out, and then disappeared. Harry sighed and slipped the stone back into his ring.

“Happy?” he asked his coworkers with a glare, although it was half-hearted at best. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go stop a murder of one of my staff. Lucy is a good kid and I don’t want her dead.”

He stalked out, Ianto quick to follow.

 

“Luna, is Lucy working tonight?” Harry asked as soon as his sister picked up her phone.

 _“No, I sent her home because she has a test tomorrow,”_ Luna replied cheerily. _“Lukas and Vera apprehended Max as soon as he turned up, don’t worry. I’ve got him in one of the back rooms.”_

“Thank you,” Harry sighed in relief. “Any hints on how to break the subliminal messages Costello placed?”

 _“No, sorry. Just don’t take him to Torchwood. Take him straight to Kathy Swanson,”_ Luna advised.

“Thanks Luna. We’ll be there in a few.”

_“I know! Oh, and you're fine to tell the others about us. Tosh already knows most of it and Owen would find out sooner or later. So would Jack.”_

“And Cooper?”

_“Rhys is Neville’s cousin, a squib, so she’ll find out eventually.”_

“Right, will do. See you soon.”

_“See you soon!”_

“She sounded happy,” Ianto commented as Harry hung up. Harry snorted and stepped into an alley with Ianto a step behind him.

“Luna is nearly always happy. You know where we’re going?”

“Of course. I'm right behind you.”

Harry apparated and Ianto was indeed right behind him, shadowing to the pub.

 

When Ianto and Harry returned to the Hub, Jack was waiting impatiently for answers.

“What the hell was that?” he demanded once Ianto and Harry had entered the meeting room. Gwen was scowling at them, Owen looked unimpressed, and Toshiko just looked worried.

“That, Jack Harkness, was only part of the power of a wizard who has rightful ownership of what in my community is called the Resurrection Stone,” Harry stated as he took a seat. “Luna is a Seer and a witch, I am a wizard, and our pub caters to all beings human and not. As a Seer Luna foresaw Max’s arrival and had two of our stronger staff members apprehend him. We dropped him off to Kathy Swanson with as much evidence as was needed before we came back here. Lucy is safe.”

“Witch and wizard?” Gwen repeated incredulously. “You honestly expect us to believe that?”

“It’s true,” Toshiko interjected. She blushed when the others turned their attention to her. “Luna showed me proof when she told me. I’ve known for ages that Harry isn’t normal.”

“Thanks,” Harry snorted. Tosh smiled apologetically.

“And what about Ianto?” Owen demanded. “You said you knew the same people Potter does. Are you a so-called ‘wizard’ too?”

“I am not a wizard,” Ianto deflected. “But I have known many.” He hadn’t lied, but neither had he told the full truth.

“Let’s pretend for a moment I believe you,” Jack interrupted. “What is the Resurrection Stone and why do you have rightful ownership?”

“The resurrection stone was one of three gifts from Death,” Ianto replied in Harry’s stead. His teammates all looked his way. “The tale is one well-known in the wizarding community.”

“Indulge me,” Jack crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. Harry sighed and leaned forward just a little, making a few little gestures with his hands and producing swirling smoke which shaped itself as he spoke.

“There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too treacherous to cross. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure. It was Death. He was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims, for travellers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him.

"The oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence. So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother. Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second brother, and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead. And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility.” Gwen opened her mouth to interrupt, but Harry shot her a death glare.

“He isn’t finished,” Ianto murmured, and the woman’s mouth shut.

“The first brother travelled to a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched from Death himself, and of how it made him invincible. That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay, wine-sodden, upon his bed. The thief took the wand and, for good measure, slit the oldest brother’s throat. And so Death took the first brother for his own.”

“Bollocks,” Owen snorted.

“Shut up,” Toshiko hissed, and smiled at Harry. “Go on.” Harry rolled his eyes but continued.

“Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead, and turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and his delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely death, appeared at once before him. Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself so as truly to join her. And so Death took the second brother.

“But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life,” Harry concluded, snapping his fingers and making the smoke dissipate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those following, I am soooooooooooooo sorry it's been so long since my last update! I'm sorry for the cliffhanger ending too, but I wanted to get at least this much posted


	14. Some Explaining and Some Loving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning - shameless smut in this chapter. No, I will not mark it.

**Chapter Fourteen**

“I have all three items, but unlike others I didn’t seek them out and that makes them rightfully mine. Also I am descended from the third brother, which adds to that. The resurrection stone works, as you saw earlier with Suzie,” Harry said quietly. Jack regarded him thoughtfully for a few minutes while the rest of the team waited.

“Have you used your ‘magic’ on us?”

“I… might have been behind a few pranks,” Harry admitted with a wince at Gwen’s outraged noise.

“Anything else?” Jack persisted. Harry shook his head.

“No. It’s how Luna got in, though,” he offered. “But she’s a Seer, so she would have been able to find a way down here without using her magic if she wanted to.”

“Have you used the resurrection stone before?”

“Once, when I thought I was about to die,” Harry shrugged. “I contacted my parents and godfathers so I wouldn’t be alone.”

“Not since then?” Harry shook his head. “Are you planning on using it again?”

“Of course not,” Harry snorted. “The dead don’t belong in this world, and personally I find using it really creepy and stressful.”

Jack relaxed, and with him so did most of the team. Gwen was scowling heavily, a stubborn set to her shoulders.

“In that case, tell us what you can of your ‘magic’.”

Harry did.

 -DF-

Later, down in the morgue, Ianto was making a second check of Suzie’s death certificate when Jack approached.

“Thank you for this,” he murmured.

“Part of my job, sir,” Ianto let a smile curl one side of his mouth. Jack sighed.

“No, I should be doing it, but…” Jack heaved another sigh and turned to lean against the body lockers, looking around the wide domed room. “One day, we’re gonna run out of space.”

Ianto couldn’t really say anything to that, but he could change the topic and perhaps lighten the mood a little.

“If you're interested, I’ve still got that stopwatch,” he offered. Jack looked at him curiously.

“So?”

“Well, think about it,” Ianto let his smile form again. “Lots of things you can do with a stopwatch.”

“Oh yeah,” Jack’s usual smirk-slash-cocky-smile returned, and he huffed out a laugh. “I can think of a few.”

“There’s quite a list.”

“I’ll send the others home early,” Jack smirked. “I’ll see you in my office in…” he looked at his watch. “Ten.”

“That’s ten minutes,” Ianto pulled out his stopwatch and started it. “And counting.” Jack grinned and started heading back up to the main Hub. “Oh, and Jack?” The head of the team turned and looked at him, raising an eyebrow in question. “Do you want me to put a lock on the door, in case she goes walking?”

“No chance of that,” Jack shook his head. “Her resurrection days are over. Harry destroyed the glove.”

“That’s the thing about gloves though,” Ianto sighed, turning back and shutting the locker with the new death certificate on the inside. “They come in pairs.” Jack’s smile disappeared completely, and Ianto crossed the room to grip the back of his neck and touch their foreheads together lightly. “Don’t worry about it – we can deal with it if it becomes an issue. Now, should I be expecting a third tonight or are you sending Harry home too?”

“I think he can stay,” Jack smirked. “See you upstairs.”

 -DF-

Harry knew he would have to fend off accusations and such from Gwen as soon as Jack and Ianto were out of sight, but this was ridiculous. She just hadn’t _stopped_!

“For the last fucking time, shut up! I don’t know where you're getting these ridiculous ideas from, but you're giving me a headache on top of the one I already had!” Harry roared at her, eyes flashing dangerously. Gwen refused to be cowed, even as Toshiko squeaked and sidled away. Owen was staring at the wizard in surprise.

“Why won’t you answer any of my questions?” Gwen fired back hotly.

“Those aren’t _questions_ , they’re bloody accusations!”

“You still aren’t answering me!”

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Harry tossed his hands in the air, turned his back on the woman, and started storming towards the cog door.

He froze when something hit his back, and turned slowly to face the slightly red-faced woman he'd just spent fifteen minutes being yelled at by. On the floor between them was a stress ball.

“Did you just…?”

“Oh boy,” Owen muttered, edging over to where Toshiko had taken cover. He joined her, shrugging when she cast him a questioning look. “I'm not a complete idiot, you know,” he replied under his breath. Tosh snorted quietly but didn’t otherwise respond.

“I give up,” Harry said flatly after Gwen had finished yet another rant at him. He turned around again and shifted seamlessly into his animagus form, stalking over to the couch near the autopsy bay. He ignored Gwen’s shriek (despite the fact it hurt his ears) and Owen’s cursing, and instead curled up on the couch and tucked his nose under his tail as he shut his eyes and flattened his ears.

A hand on his head made him open his eyes to look, but it was just a very curious-looking Toshiko and so he closed his eyes again and let a purring growl rumble up through his chest as she stroked his ears.

“Alright boys and girls, hometime,” Jack announced as he half-ran up the stairs to join them. He paused at the sight of Toshiko patting a panther’s head. “O…kay…”

“It’s just Harry,” Toshiko assured him, getting a spluttering noise from Gwen and a snort from Owen. She squeaked as the panther curled up beneath her hand suddenly shifted back to human form. Harry just grinned at her and sat up.

“Interesting,” Jack smirked at the wizard. “As I was saying, go home. I expect you all back here by 9am tomorrow,” he added. “Harrison, stay a while. There’s something we need to discuss.” Harry nodded, and ignored Gwen’s scowl as Owen ushered her out. Toshiko grabbed her coat and waved, and Harry returned the wave as he watched the three other team members leave.

 -DF-

“So, what can I do for you?” Harry asked, turning back to Jack. He made a surprised noise as the man leaned down and kissed him, but then smiled and returned the kiss easily.

“I see you got started without me,” Ianto commented, and the two broke apart to see him leaning against the railing, his stopwatch in hand. “Ten minutes, as promised.” He clicked the stop button and smirked. “Of course, if you’d rather I went on my way…”

“Get over here.” Ianto strolled over casually, giving each of his lovers a brief kiss. Harry glanced up at Jack. “Want to go back to my place? I can get us there in an instant.”

“Is this some of your magic?” Jack asked. Harry smiled, letting that be his answer.

“Is that a yes?” Jack eyed him for a moment, thoughtful. “It _is_ uncomfortable, at least at first.”

“That sounds like you're talking about something else,” Jack smirked, and Harry couldn’t help but laugh. Ianto chuckled and shook his head.

“If you don’t make up your mind soon, I might just find someone else for the evening.”

“Don’t even think about it,” Harry grabbed Ianto’s wrist, feeling more than a little possessive. He was in deep with these two, he knew it, but he no longer cared. Jack knew he was a wizard and accepted that, and Ianto had known from the start. Plus there was the added bonus that he wouldn’t lose them easily to death…

“Let’s go then,” Jack decided, and Harry grinned before twisting on the spot and apparating back to his apartment, dragging his two lovers along with him.

 

* * *

 

Jack staggered upon landing in Harry’s sitting room, requiring both Ianto and Harry to hold him up.

“That was… uncomfortable,” he decided, and Harry snorted.

“You did better than me,” he informed the taller man. “I threw up the first time. You get used to it.”

“I don’t think anyone could get used to that,” Ianto shuddered. “I hate that feeling.”

“It could be worse,” Harry shrugged, and then a sly smile curved his lips up on one side. “So, are we going to continue what we started or should I just go to sleep?”

“If you think I'm going to miss out because of that, you're mistaken,” Jack declared, and hauled Harry up over his shoulder to start into the wizard’s bedroom. Harry yelped and squirmed, struggling to escape the immortal’s hold as Ianto laughingly followed them.

 

In the bedroom, Harry’s squirming abruptly ceased as he was dropped onto his bed, Jack following him down and pinning him to the mattress. Ianto slid onto the bed beside them as his two human lovers kissed, deftly unfastening buttons and buckles while they were distracted.

“How long has it been?” Harry asked as Ianto’s hand found his crotch, tilting his head when Jack’s mouth latched onto his neck.

“About a week,” Ianto muttered, more interested in getting Harry’s jeans off than anything else. “For me, at least.”

“Same,” Jack mumbled, turning his attention to Ianto. The two of them fought briefly for control of their kiss, while Harry wriggled out of his clothes and flicked his fingers.

Jack and Ianto broke apart at the sudden change from clothed to unclothed and turned to look at him. Harry grinned and wiggled his fingers at the now-naked men.

“I think I like this magic of yours,” Jack mused, and Harry flipped them over to straddle the immortal.

“Oh, it’s brilliant,” he assured him, leaning down and latching onto the one point on Jack’s neck that made him surrender. The larger man was reduced to groans and muffled moans as Harry and Ianto joined forces to send him mad with need.

Teeth, tongues, lips and fingers found each and every one of Jack’s sensitive spots, and when he felt one of them – Ianto by the size – wrap a slick hand around his cock he almost whimpered.

“Come on already,” he groaned. Harry laughed into Jack’s ribs, while Ianto’s lips curled into a smile against Jack’s hip. Harry moved away, getting a disappointed noise from Jack, but Ianto was quick to distract him. Their lips met and locked, Ianto teasing Jack’s mouth open and almost playfully curling their tongues together.

Harry watched his two lovers shift on the bed beside him, Ianto settling between Jack’s legs and shifting one hand down to grip his thigh. Jack gripped the back of Ianto’s neck in one hand and his waist with the other arm, tugging him down to bring their bodies together fully. Twin groans escaped them, and Harry settled himself more comfortably on the bed to just watch. They looked so good together, sweat starting to bead on their skin as they panted into each other’s mouth and just _moved_ together. One of Ianto’s hands was out of sight, but from the way they shifted and how Jack tilted his hips in a familiar manner Harry knew just where that hand had gone. If it had been a week for all of them, well, Jack certainly wouldn’t be used to Ianto’s width anymore.

Ianto moved, one hand slicking his erection quickly before he shifted Jack’s thighs to either side of him and pressed forward. Jack grabbed at his shoulders, pulling Ianto down and messily crushing their lips together. All Ianto’s movement hitched slightly, but then Jack whimpered – actually whimpered – and Ianto started a slow fluid motion with his hips that had Jack gasping for breath and clutching at him in near-desperation.

It was a little uncomfortable for the first five seconds, but then when that pleading little noise slipped through his control there was only wonderful friction and a pleasure that just kept building. Ianto knew his body so well now, played him with an expertise Jack had never encountered in a lover before. All he could do was grab hold to Ianto and gasp to keep himself breathing, tucking his face into Ianto’s neck as the Welshman’s hands held tight to his hip and thigh. The friction just built the pleasure higher, and Jack whimpered almost inaudibly into Ianto’s neck as their pace increased. Sweat slicked their bodies and Jack could feel Ianto’s breathing becoming as ragged as his was. Just a little more… a little _more_ …

Jack released Ianto’s shoulder and slipped it between their bodies, a gasp catching in his throat and stopping all noise from escaping as finally – finally – his body shook and shivered beneath Ianto’s.

Ianto stopped moving as soon as he felt Jack’s breath catch, panting heavily as he watched Jack fall apart beneath him and shivering himself at the way Jack’s always-restless _errêve_ buzzed against his skin. Ianto eased out of his hypersensitive lover, settling beside Jack as the younger male shuddered and panted for breath. A muffled whine drew Ianto’s attention to Harry, who was biting down on his lip and had his eyes half-shut as he tried to bring himself to completion. Ianto, still unsatisfied, practically pounced on the wizard.

Harry flailed a little in surprise when Ianto pounced on him, but then the fae had a hand wrapped around both their cocks and was stroking in just the right way to bring him right back up to the state of near-climax he'd been in watching Jack come apart beneath Ianto. He just went with it, shivering and giving a short groan when he finally came. He could feel Ianto doing the same, and lay panting beside Jack as the three of them tried to recover. A wave of Harry’s hand had the result of their activities disappearing, and he pressed up against Ianto as Jack did the same on the fae’s opposite side. Ianto just relaxed there between them, eyes shut and chest still heaving a bit before he managed to wrap his arms around his lovers. Harry just barely managed to get a blanket over them, but then gave in to sleep just as his lovers had done.

 

* * *

 

Luna hummed to herself as she skipped through her front door and flicked on the lights. She blinked in curiosity and slight confusion at the bags in the hallway, but then comprehension dawned.

“Oh,” she murmured. “They weren’t supposed to be here for a while.”

“Who wasn’t?” a cheery voice asked, and Luna squealed happily as she threw herself into her guest’s arms.

“You weren’t! I didn’t think you’d be here for a few months yet!” Her guest laughed, white teeth flashing in a tanned face, and a kiss was pressed to her cheek affectionately.

“Well, I'm here early, as you can see. Only for a week or so, though.”

“That’s alright,” Luna smiled. “I have to introduce you to Toshiko. Oh! And Harry’s lovers!”

“Lovers? Plural?”

“Yes. You’ll like them. Just don’t take the human one up on any flirting – the other or Harry might just kill you for that.”

“Right, don’t sleep with the guy that flirts with me and makes Harry glare. Got it. Where is he, by the way? I thought you were living together?”

“Oh, no, he has his own apartment. I insisted when he started working his new job. I don’t want to hear my brother having sex.” Luna grimaced and her guest laughed again.

“Well, my dear Luna, how about you tell me about your Toshiko?”

Luna’s face brightened and she started chattering away cheerfully about her girlfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in less than 12 hours! Whoot!
> 
> Aaaaaand - I DID SMUT!


	15. That Dogon Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Random Shoes' revamp. Plus Charlie Weasley appears!

 

Harry jolted awake and nearly launched himself off his bed in the process, scrambling over to where he'd dumped his coat so he could reach his phone. The ringing woke his companions, and Ianto grumbled something incoherently as he shoved a pillow over his head. Jack groaned at the noise and hauled the blanket up over his head.

“Sorry,” Harry called to them just as he found his phone. “Aha!” He hurried to answer it when he saw the caller ID. “Luna, why are you calling me at this time of morning?”

 _“It’s seven-thirty,”_ a voice that most definitely did not belong to his sister replied. _“And I'm not Luna.”_ Harry grinned.

“Hey Charlie! Why the call? And why from Luna’s phone?”

_“Mine had a slight accident. And since when can a man not call his little brother?”_

“It had an accident?”

_“Welsh Green.”_

“Ah, that makes sense,” Harry laughed and shook his head, even though his near-brother couldn’t see it. “So you're in town, then?”

 _“For a few days. Wanted to know if you’ve got time to catch up for something to eat, and maybe introduce me to those lovers of yours Luna was telling me about.”_ Harry’s cheeks turned pink.

“She told you, huh?”

 _“Of course she did,”_ Charlie responded cheerfully. _“So, when can I meet the lucky guys?”_

“I’ll let you know,” Harry sighed, and Charlie laughed at him. “So, lunch today?”

_“I’ll meet you at your pub at one, then.”_

“Alright. See you then.”

_“See you.”_

Harry looked over his shoulder at his watching lovers, and dropped his phone back onto his pile of clothes before slipping back into the bed.

“So who was that?” Jack asked curiously.

“Charlie Weasley, a good friend of mine. He’s practically my brother considering I’ve been as good as adopted by most of his family.”

“Is this the same Charlie Weasley you and Luna said was a dragon tamer?” Ianto asked with a huffed laugh as Harry’s slightly-cold hand slid over his chest.

“Yep.”

“So… should we warn Owen, then?” Jack smirked.

“No, I don’t think they’ll meet yet. Probably next time he comes to Cardiff,” Harry shrugged. Personally, he thought Owen’s mentality needed to change just a bit before he and Charlie met, if what Luna had Seen regarding the two was true. Considering she was nearly always right… “Do you want to come meet him today?”

“I can’t think of a reason not to,” Ianto admitted. “Are you sure he won’t mind?”

“He asked,” Harry assured him. “Jack?”

“If nothing comes up,” Jack allowed, clearly reluctant.

“If you would rather not, I don’t mind,” Harry smiled at Jack’s slightly sheepish expression at having been caught out. “Really, I don’t mind at all. I understand.”

“… thanks.”

No more was said on the matter.

 

They arrived at the Hub before everyone else, Ianto heading straight for the coffee machine as Harry set about organising his desk properly. He had left it a bit of a mess the night before, and so he was keen to get everything in order before they truly started work for the day. Jack was content to watch, for now at least, and leaned against the railing of one of the upper walkways as he watched his two lovers bustle about.

He’d not felt this way for anyone for a very long time. He had been so very wary of trusting people with his heart, and yet these two men had somehow managed to capture him and hold him fast without even seeming to realise just how much he cared for them. In fact, he might even go so far as to say he was in love with them, or at least was on his way to it.

Huh. How about that? He’d not fallen in love with anyone for a long time – lusted after them, yes, loved them, yes, but not been _in love_ with them. And now, after so long, he was falling in love with two people, or perhaps already was in love with them both.

To be honest, it scared him a little. He wasn’t used to feeling like this.

But then again, love was love, and it wasn’t rational.

“Jack, are you alright?” Tosh asked. Her face was furrowed with concern when Jack looked at her. He managed a smile.

“Yeah, just thinking too hard. When did you get in?”

“Just now. Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yes.” Jack gave the genius a one-armed hug, keeping her tucked against his side. “So, anything new that needs to be brought to my attention?”

“Eugene says he has something we may be interested in, but if we’re not interested he intends to try selling it on EBay.” Jack frowned.

“Why wouldn’t we be interested?”

“Apparently he approached Gwen about it at some stage, but she brushed him off.” Jack scowled at Tosh’s words.

“Damn it, that woman is getting to be more trouble than she’s worth,” he grumbled, but put the matter aside for later.

 

Jack waited until Ianto and Harry left for lunch before he approached Gwen about her conduct yet again. He was getting sick of disciplining her for her stubbornness, but there was something that stopped him from firing her and dosing her with Retcon again. She was needed in the future, he could guess that much, but he really did _not_ like how she behaved as if she was above the rest of them. Nor did he like her attempts to get in his pants. He had Ianto and Harry for that, and to be completely honest, if only with himself, they were enough for him. They were something he’d never thought he’d have, and he wasn’t about to ruin things by allowing Gwen to get between him and them.

“Gwen, did a skinny lad approach you offering to sell something to Torchwood?” he asked outright, keeping his face and stance as neutral as possible.

“I think he mentioned something like that, but it was just some kid looking for attention so I sent him on his way,” Gwen waved it off. Jack was doing his best not to explode at her for her lazy dismissal, but it was hard to keep his cool.

“If you had bothered to look through the basic files you were given, you would know that Eugene Jones is a regular contact of ours who passes on alien artefacts when he finds them. If your behaviour has caused one of our best allies to start looking elsewhere, you’ll be disciplined so fast your head will spin!”

Jack didn’t even bother hanging around to hear her excuses, turning on his heel and stalking from the Hub. He needed to calm down before he shot her or worse.

 

Ianto was pleasantly surprised when Jack joined them at Harry and Luna’s pub, having not expected to see the man until he and Harry returned to work. However, the man’s expression and the exasperation and irritation rolling off him in waves let him know that it wasn’t a sudden urge to meet Charlie. Jack needed out of the Hub, and had come to Ianto and Harry to calm down.

“You alright, Jack?” Harry asked with a faint frown as Jack slid into the booth beside Ianto.

“Why don’t I just fire Gwen?” Jack groaned, slumping against Ianto’s side. The dark fae wrapped an arm around him and squeezed gently.

“Because the Retcon didn’t work properly on her last time,” Ianto responded dryly. “And it’s better to keep an eye on her than have her running around causing trouble because she’s been left unsupervised.” Harry snickered.

“You do remember that I have a different way to make her forget, right Ianto?” he asked, and Ianto stilled before groaning and dropping his forehead to the table.

“How could I forget that?” Charlie’s laugh had Ianto straightening up and Jack freezing. The redhead was grinning as he flapped a hand at the two.

“Don’t mind me, I’m just observing,” he chuckled, and dodged the swat aimed at him by Harry.

“Jack, this is Charlie Weasley. Charlie, Jack Harkness,” Harry introduced the two with a sigh, flapping a hand between the two. “Jack, don’t mind him, he’s bonkers.”

“Hey!” Charlie protested, but he was grinning. “So, I heard you’ve met Luna. What do you think of her?”

“She’s different,” Jack shrugged. “Tosh loves her, Ianto likes her, Owen doesn’t but he doesn’t like anyone. Gwen hates her, but she seems to hate everyone other than me.” Jack shrugged again, lounging back against the seat in a purposefully casual way. “She’s interesting.”

“That’s a good way to put it,” Charlie laughed. “She’s head over heels for this Toshiko character, so it’s good to hear that it’s a returned sentiment.”

“They’re sort of adorable,” Harry admitted. “I think they’re good for each other.”

“Agreed,” Ianto nodded. “So, food?”

“Food sounds good.”

 

Gwen did not like being treated like the villain. So she hadn’t recognised the weedy little man who had approached her about an alien artefact – so what? That was no reason for Jack to bite her bloody head off about it!

“You were in the wrong,” Owen said flatly, and Gwen’s head jerked up to see her co-worker glaring at her from over near his desk.

“What?” she asked.

“You were wrong,” Owen repeated. “Just accept it. You messed up and Jack told you off for it, just like he’s done with all of us at least once. Accept it, move on, and stop being so bloody childish.”

“I don’t need to take that from _you_ , Owen!” Gwen snapped.

“He’s right,” Toshiko spoke up from her computers, looking over with a frown. “Don’t snap at him for it. I don’t understand why you refuse to accept advice from us when we’ve all been here for years, but if continue to do so you could end up getting someone killed.” Toshiko stood and clicked her computer mouse, shrugging on her jacket while Gwen gaped at her in disbelief and growing rage. “Owen, I’m going to get lunch. Can I get you anything?”

“Nah, I’m good, Tosh. I’ll hold the fort til the others get back,” Owen waved her off. Both of them were ignoring Gwen completely.

Toshiko left, Owen returned to his paperwork, and Gwen fumed wordlessly for a few minutes before grabbing up her own coat and storming out of the Hub.

 

Eugene Jones had been one of Torchwood’s civilian contacts ever since the boy was twelve and had come across an inactive but still dangerous Judoon weapon. He had a knack for finding bits and pieces that fell through the Rift, and so Jack had made sure he was kept happy about his findings so that Torchwood could keep the alien artefacts away from regular civilians as much as possible.

And Gwen had nearly managed to destroy a decade’s work in a few short words. Damn her.

Still, Toshiko had reported nothing posted to EBay by the kid so far, and so Jack was going to speak with him and see what he’d found.

Eugene slid into the booth opposite Jack with his usual nervous smile.

“Hi, Jack,” he greeted, having finally stopped stuttering over his name the previous year.

“Eugene,” Jack returned the greeting fondly – Eugene was a good kid, and Jack liked him well enough. “Heard you had something for us?”

“Yeah, I figured approaching the new girl would be fine, but she brushed me off,” Eugene huffed.

“I’m sorry about her – she still needs to learn some things.” Jack really, really wanted to just Retcon Gwen Cooper and get rid of her, but she’d managed to overcome it last time and he didn’t know what she’d do if he tried it again. “The usual reward alright with you? Extra if it’s dangerous or valuable, as usual,” Jack added.

“Yeah, of course.” Luckily for Torchwood (and, admittedly, Gwen’s wellbeing), Eugene was a rather easy-going guy and didn’t hold grudges long. “I got it with me, if you want it now? It’s been… well, I’ve had it for ages, but I’ve been getting weird vibes from it lately and it’s bothering me.”

That, Jack thought, did not sound good. Still, he was probably better able to handle whatever it was than Eugene was.

“Sure thing. I’ll get Tosh to transfer the funds to you as usual.”

“Right. Here,” Eugene dug a small drawstring bag out of his coat pocket and passed it across the table to Jack. Jack took it, hiding all signs of unease, and relaxed when nothing happened immediately. “Well, I have to go, I’m on my lunch break at the moment.”

“No problem. See you around, Eugene.”

“Yeah, sure. See you.”

 

Arriving back at the Hub, Jack was greeted by a furious, raised-voice argument between Gwen and Harry. The headache he’d had earlier returned with a vengeance, and he pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly.

“…do we know that _you_ can be trusted, let alone anyone else?!” Gwen was demanding of Harry when Jack stepped out into the Hub proper. Someone had clearly said something about their civilian informants, and Gwen had used that to attack Harry about his secret-keeping regarding magic. Jack was getting so sick of this woman.

“That’s enough, Gwen!” he interrupted sternly. “The matter is closed. Both of them. Harry had proven himself, as have all our civilian contacts. If you bring this up again, you’ll be stuck on desk work for the next year.” Jack strode across the Hub as he spoke, pulling the drawstring bag from his coat pocket and passing it to Ianto as he reached the Welshman. “I got this from Eugene Jones. Archive it, please. Tosh, usual payment, plus five percent for rarity. Owen, that report from last week better be on my desk. Harry, I need that debriefing I mentioned earlier. Gwen, get your damn paperwork done.”

Jack didn’t wait for a response from anyone, disappearing up into his office in a whirl of his greatcoat.

Why, oh, _why_ had he thought inducting Gwen was a good thing?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIIIIIIIIVE~!  
> Well, this fic lives. I'm currently shambling my way through life in a sleep-deprived haze.  
> But, finally, after THREE YEARS, I've made it past "Random Shoes"! Here's hoping I can get the rest of the season out in decent time.  
> Thank you to everyone who is still reading/keeping up with this. I'm so, so sorry this took so long (and is so short).  
> Also, y'all can thank user "Dragon20221" for giving me the final kick up the ass I needed to finish the chapter and update.


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